Shows
The Dark Side of Seoul PodcastNorth Korea 75 Years Later with Jacco Zwetsloot (NK News Podcast)Send us a text Seventy-five years after the Korean War began, North Korea still defines its identity by the conflict. NK News Podcast host Jacco Zwetsloot explains how Pyongyang marks the anniversary, what myths it perpetuates about victory over the U.S., and which historical flashpoints—from land reforms to the nuclear program—have shaped Kim Il Sung’s successor states. We’ll also hear Jacco’s takes on everyday life under sanctions, the regime’s strategic pivots today, and where DPRK might head next. https://patreon.com/darksideofseoulTop Tier PatronsAngel Ea...2025-06-2545 min
Korea DeconstructedBR Myers: Korea's Ethnonationalism and the Unloved Republic사랑받지 못하는 공화국 (2024) was written by Professor Bryan Myers, a professor of international studies at Dongseo University in Busan. Anyone familiar with North Korean studies will be keenly aware of Myers and his work as he has written some excellent books on that subject, including The Cleanest Race and North Korea's Juche Myth. His latest book reveals two firsts: It’s his first written in Korean and it's his first that deals with South Korean politics. Myers has said that "the book's original thrust is the argument that the right neglected / still neglects the work of state-building, but most young people, being centrist or progressiv...2024-05-311h 57
North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsHow outside information spreads in North Korea – Ep. 309North Korea made the sudden decision to expel Travis King from the country last week, more than two months after the young American soldier dashed across the inter-Korean border. NK News Managing Editor Bryan Betts talks about King’s journey back to the U.S. via China and what he faces next, as well as the overturning of South Korea’s anti-leaflet law and the DPRK’s revision of its constitution to reflect its new nuclear law.
Then, Steven Denney sits down with host Jacco Zwetsloot to discuss a report he co-authored that delves into how outside information spreads in North...2023-10-041h 02North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsNorth Korea welcomes special guests for a ‘Victory Day’ parade – Ep. 300North Korea marked the 70th anniversary of its “victory” in the Korean War last week with its second large-scale military parade of the year, as high-level international guests traveled to the country to join the festivities for the first time during the pandemic. NK News lead correspondent Jeongmin Kim and senior analytic correspondent Colin Zwirko dissect the military pageantry and the weapons that rolled through Kim Il Sung Square, while exploring the messages that Russia and China sent by sending delegations to the parade and other events.
Then, to celebrate the 300th episode of the NK News podcast, the members of t...2023-08-011h 16North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsAn inside look at the Joint Security Area, ‘freedom’s frontier’ – Ep. 279The Joint Security Area on the inter-Korean border used to be a popular tourist destination, a place where North and South Korean soldiers stare each other down and visitors can actually step over the Military Demarcation Line within the confines of the famous blue buildings. But since the start of COVID-19, the U.N. Command overseeing the area has prohibited most visits.
Recently, however, members of the NK News team joined other media for a special tour of Panmunjom on the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), recording an exclusive podcast from what past U.S. presidents have called “freedom’s frontier.”
This week...2023-03-1444 min
Korea DeconstructedThe North, The South, and The Coffee #048Jacco Zwetsloot has been the host of the NK News Podcast since 2018. He has interviewed a wide range of guests about their knowledge of and experience in North Korea, from celebrity defectors to high-ranking U.S. government officials. Jacco has a Master of Arts from Leiden University, for which he wrote a thesis on North Korean graphic novels. This is a conversation in two parts - both of which are fascinating. The first sees Jacco recount details of his three trips to the capital of North Korea, Pyongyang. These bring to life the reality of travelling in...2023-02-172h 36
ZOOM-INJacco Zwetsloot (APAC News Seoul Correspondent)APAC News reporter Jacco Zwetsloot joins us for an analysis on evolving methods of North Korea's hacking and what's at stake2022-12-3015 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsUnplugging from the North Korean matrix – Ep. 254Growing up in an elite DPRK family, Seohyun Lee enjoyed privileges available to few other North Koreans. But that all changed during a study abroad trip to China, when she says a seemingly innocuous question from a taxi driver led to her “waking up from the matrix.” Then when a close friend of hers disappeared, she and her family were forced to escape the country for good.
This week, Lee joins the NK News podcast to discuss her life in the DPRK and the many ways in which it has changed since her defection. She talks about her family’s connec...2022-09-2056 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsHow nuclear weapons help North Korea punch above its weight – Ep. 253North Korea is a small country, with a tiny economy and rigid political system, squeezed between much larger, richer nations. And yet its nuclear weapons allow it to dominate discourse about the region, give it a seat at the table with the U.S. and propel leader Kim Jong Un to front-page headlines.
To Dr. Sung-Yoon Lee, assistant professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, this is particularly chilling because North Korea has used this influence to sponsor terrorism, proliferate weapons and launder money, all while oppressing its own people and depriving them of aid and support from t...2022-09-1358 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsNorth Korea declares COVID victory and lashes out at US-ROK drills – Ep. 252In August, the U.S. and South Korea carried out large-scale field training exercises for the first time since 2018, while North Korea conducted a missile test for the first time in months. The DPRK declared “victory” over COVID-19 less than three months after reporting its first outbreak. And a South Korean man attacked the high-profile activist and defector Park Sang-hak with a metal pipe at a public event, in what Park claimed was an assault orchestrated by Pyongyang.
This week, the NK News team breaks down these and other significant events from throughout the month. They discuss Pyongyang’s response to the...2022-09-061h 03North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsWhy it’s in America’s interest to withdraw troops from Korea – Ep. 251How far should the U.S. go to protect its allies, and can South Korea do more to protect itself without outside help?
Doug Bandow (@Doug_Bandow), a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, has spent decades considering this equation and has come to believe the U.S.-ROK alliance needs serious reimagination, starting with the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula.
Bandow says South Korea is rich and powerful enough to carry its own water, and that the U.S. can have a more effective foreign policy — in Asia and elsewhere — by understanding when and where to u...2022-08-3045 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsWhy North Korean comic books don’t have superheroes – Ep. 250Over the last four years, Jacco Zwetsloot has hosted 249 episodes of the NK News podcast, interviewing everyone from longtime Korea watchers and prominent defectors to Donald Trump’s point man for negotiations with Pyongyang. But the podcast’s 250th episode features a particularly special guest — the host himself.
This week, Zwetsloot talks with NK News Deputy Editor Arius Derr (@AriusDerr) about the first-ever North Korean to stand before a U.S. court and his research on DPRK comic books. They discuss why North Korean comics don’t depict Kim family leaders, the challenges of navigating South Korean restrictions on DPRK material...2022-08-231h 02North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsWhen North Korea invited East German secret police to Pyongyang – Ep. 249Before the mid-1980s, North Korea and East Germany did not have the most robust relationship despite both being allies of the Soviet Union and their similar situations as the communist half of a divided country. That all changed when founding leader Kim Il Sung decided to host one of the largest events in North Korean history.
In this episode of the NK News Podcast, Bernd Schaefer talks about how East Germany’s secret police helped facilitate the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students in Pyongyang, similarities between East Germany and North Korea and the lessons of a divided Ge...2022-08-1651 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsNorth Korea threatens death penalty for illegal drug sales – Ep. 248July was a busy month on the Korean Peninsula. The South Korean government launched an investigation into the 2019 forced repatriation of two North Koreans. DPRK leader Kim Jong Un slammed ROK President Yoon Suk-yeol as a “military gangster.” And Pyongyang expressed willingness to send laborers to breakaway Ukrainian regions.
This week, the NK News team breaks down all the major events. They discuss a new decree posted in Pyongyang warning of the death penalty for anyone who re-sells drugs during the COVID-19 outbreak, ventilators and other trade shipments from China, ship activity near Nampho, apparently warm ties between the Donbas brea...2022-08-091h 05North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsUp close and personal at the Demilitarized Zone – Ep. 247This week, NK News podcast host Jacco Zwetsloot returns to what some call “freedom’s frontier,” better known as the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, for a special travelogue episode.
Ret. U.S. Lt. Col. Steve Tharp. Ret. ROK Col. Jee Hong-ki, NK News founder and CEO Chad O’Carroll join the tour of the less-visited central border region of Cheorwon, peering into North Korea and learning about the battles fought in the area during the Korean War, rogue mines, defections across the inter-Korean border, tourism at the DMZ, sabertooth tigers and more.
About the podcast: The North Korea Ne...2022-08-022h 04North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsEmerging North Korean threats in cyber and outer space – Ep. 246Threat dynamics on the Korean Peninsula are rapidly evolving. North Korea has proven extremely capable in cyberspace, compromising sensitive systems around the world and stealing hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency. The DPRK’s armed forces are also adopting unmanned aerial vehicles and developing hypersonic missiles that present new challenges to South Korean and U.S. defenses in the region.
Cho Dongyoun of Seokyeong University has spent decades on the frontline of these new and emerging threats. As a major in the ROK army, Cho helped interpret and expand intelligence capabilities and understand North Korean tactics on the battlefield, on...2022-07-261h 00North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsHow Sweden created a safe space for North Korea talks – NKNews Podcast Ep. 245As Sweden’s ambassador to South Korea from 2018 to 2021, Jakob Hallgren saw firsthand as the pendulum shifted from hope and optimism about the future of inter-Korean relations to pessimism and doubt about whether Seoul and Pyongyang could ever reconcile.
This week, Hallgren joins the NK News podcast to discuss his country’s role in diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula, Sweden's history in facilitating track 1.5 and 2.0 talks, the Ukraine war and what North Korea stands to gain, and why the dream of Korean unification will go unrealized.
Jakob Hallgren (@HallgrenJakob) is the director of the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. Prior to t...2022-07-1940 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsNorth Korea blames ‘alien things’ for COVID-19 outbreak – NKNews Podcast Ep. 244June was a busy month on the Korean Peninsula. The leaders of the U.S., Japan and South Korea met for the first time in nearly five years as Tokyo and Seoul began to repair ties. North Korea blamed ‘alien things’ like anti-regime balloons for spreading COVID-19 into the country. And top DPRK military officials adopted a major military action plan that some experts said may entail the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to near the inter-Korean border.
This week, three members of the NK News team join the podcast to discuss all these developments and more, breaking down what happ...2022-07-1251 min
TBS eFM Life: AbroadJuly 07 Thur - North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsLife inside the pro-North Korea enclave in Japan – NKNews Podcast Ep. 243Growing up in Kobe, Park Hyangsu lived in a world apart from most of the Japanese people around her. At school, her teachers spoke Korean. In the classroom, portraits of North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il hung on the walls. For educational field trips, students traveled to the DPRK.
This week, Park joins the NK News podcast to discuss her family’s life inside Chongryon, the pro-DPRK organization of ethnic Koreans in Japan that acts as Pyongyang’s de facto embassy to Tokyo. She shares about her experience receiving Juche ideological education in school, the tragic stor...2022-07-051h 11North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsNorth Korea’s invented histories – NKNews Podcast Ep. 242When the war in Ukraine broke out earlier this year, Russian leader Vladimir Putin justified his country’s invasion as an effort to “denazify” its smaller neighbor, a striking claim given that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish. Moscow has also compared its “special military operation” to the fight against Nazi Germany in World War II, an especially proud moment in the country’s history.
This week, author and journalist Katie Stallard joins the NK News podcast to explore parallels between Russia’s invocation of history and North Korea’s own use of historical narratives to prop up the Kim family regime. S...2022-06-2858 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsThe untold story of Kim Jong Un’s older brother – NKNews Podcast Ep. 241The assassination of Kim Jong Nam, Kim Jong Un’s older half-brother who was at one time believed to be in line to succeed their father, stands among the most shocking episodes of the current leader’s decade in power — all the more so for the manner in which it was done. According to reports, DPRK agents tricked two women into smearing VX nerve agent onto their target in broad daylight at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, believing it was for a prank show. The brazen killing marked a rare moment when Kim family intrigue spilled out into the open and presen...2022-06-211h 01North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsLured to North Korea on false promises – NKNews Podcast Ep. 240From 1959 to 1984, some 93,000 ethnic Koreans voluntarily left Japan to go live in the DPRK. Driven away by discrimination in Japan, and lured by promises of free housing and health care in socialist North Korea, these migrants would arrive in a country far different from the “Workers’ Paradise” that they had been promised. And once there, it wasn’t nearly so easy to leave.
This week, Markus Bell joins the NK News podcast to discuss his research into the stories of the many Zainichi Koreans who fled Japan for North Korea — and in some cases fled North Korea to return to Japan. He...2022-06-1455 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsDebating nukes a stone’s throw from North Korea – NKNews Podcast Ep. 239In late May, Korea Risk Group hosted a special three-day conference on South Korea’s east coast for NK Pro subscribers and other North Korea watchers. Called the East Coast Exchange, the event featured expert presentations, vibrant discussions and ample time for networking, as well as a unique opportunity to view the DPRK’s Mount Kumgang from South Korea’s northernmost guard post on the DMZ.
This week, NK News podcast host Jacco Zwetsloot provides an inside account of the special event for listeners who couldn’t attend, interviewing participants ranging from Israeli Ambassador Akiva Tor and Yonsei University professor John Del...2022-06-0752 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsInside North Korea’s Lazarus heist hack — NKNews Podcast Ep. 238North Korea has rapidly expanded its cyber capabilities over the last decade, from marginal operations focused on distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks to large-scale cyberwarfare capable of compromising hardened networks and stealing hundreds of millions in cash and cryptocurrency. Perhaps the most widely known of the DPRK’s cybercrime organizations is the so-called Lazarus Group, which has become all the more infamous through the success of the BBC’s hit podcast “The Lazarus Heist.”
This week, “The Lazarus Heist” co-creator and presenter Geoff White joins the NK News podcast to discuss this enigmatic group of hackers and the increasing sophistication of Pyongyang’s...2022-05-3151 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsExploring North Korea from south of the DMZ – NKNews Podcast Ep. 237When North Korea imposed strict pandemic border controls in Jan. 2020, the country simultaneously closed its door to international tourists and suspended a growing industry that brought in hundreds of thousands of travelers in 2019 alone. Yet while it’s unclear when the country will reopen, there’s still one way to explore North Korea as a tourist — by visiting border areas on the South Korean side.
This week, North Korean specialists and tour guides join the podcast to discuss how travelers can tour North Korea during the pandemic without ever stepping foot in the country. They share their experiences visiting the once o...2022-05-241h 02North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsNorth Korea reports first-ever COVID-19 outbreak – NKNews Podcast Ep. 236Two and a half years into the global COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea reported its first outbreak on May 12, with cases of “fever” quickly surpassing a million. How prepared is the DPRK to fight the spread of the virus and will the country finally accept foreign aid?
This week, NK News and NK PRO founder and CEO Chad O’Carroll (@chadocl), lead correspondent Jeongmin Kim (@jeongminnkim) and Seoul correspondent Ifang Bremer (@ifangbremer) join the NK News Podcast to discuss the status of North Korea’s COVID-19 outbreak.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwe...2022-05-1644 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsExploring North Korean art in Africa – NKNews Podcast Ep. 235Several North Korean statues and other works of art are scattered across the African continent, a persistent presence that demonstrates North Korean influence in the region. While these works are often narrowly interpreted by the outside world as illicit revenue streams for Pyongyang, researcher OneJoon Che says North Korean art and sculptures cannot be fully understood unless we look at them through the eyes of the people that see them every day.
This week, OneJoon joins the NK News Podcast to discuss "International Friendship: The Gifts From Africa," his new photo book that traces the statues, monuments and buildings built...2022-05-1048 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsVisiting a remote island on North Korea’s doorstep – NKNews Podcast Ep. 234A four-hour ferry ride from South Korea’s west coast takes one to a remote island so far north that it seems like it would be in North Korea. Yet Baengnyeong Island remains, improbably, a part of the South, and this far-flung location on the country’s frontier has been at the center of several important events in inter-Korean history — including the infamous sinking of the ROKS Cheonan.
This week, NK News podcast host Jacco Zwetsloot takes listeners on a special audio tour of South Korea’s westernmost island, uncovering its history and talking with residents and experts about its signific...2022-05-031h 07North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsThe complexities of solving the North Korea issue – NKNews Podcast Ep. 233The U.S. and South Korea have been trying to solve the North Korea nuclear issue for decades, yet Pyongyang continues to advance its weapons programs. This week, Christopher Green joins the podcast to talk about the past few years of diplomacy, missile tests and how to analyze the goings-on in the DPRK with a critical eye.
Christopher Green (@Dest_Pyongyang) is a senior consultant at Crisis Group and a lecturer at Leiden University.
Andrei Lankov's article for Surival that was mentioned in the podcast: "The Perspective from Pyongyang: Limits of Compromise"
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast i...2022-04-2652 min
ZOOM-INJacco Zwetsloot (Network Moderator for The Economist)Network Moderator for The Economist Jacco Zwetsloot explains North Korea's recent series of missile tests and its implications. 2022-04-2213 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsWhat Kim Il Sung shares with Hitler, Mao and Stalin – NKNews Podcast Ep. 232North Korea celebrated the 110th birthday of Kim Il Sung in grand fashion last week, with thousands of pom-pom-waving citizens spelling out the founding leader’s name in massive characters, as a large float bearing a bronze statue of his likeness paraded across the square in central Pyongyang now named for him. It was a testament to the longevity of the so-called eternal leader’s cult of personality, which he burnished during his brutal decadeslong rule and which persists years after his death.
But what was Kim Il Sung like before he became the godlike figure endlessly praised in state prop...2022-04-191h 01North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsThe first American to visit North Korea’s nuclear plant – NKNews Podcast Ep. 231The Yongbyon complex located some 60 miles north of Pyongyang has been the center of North Korea’s nuclear program for decades, producing fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons tests. As the DPRK has not allowed independent experts to visit the site for years, analysts now pore over satellite imagery to divine the status of enrichment activity and estimate the number of warheads in its nuclear arsenal.
But back in the early 1990s, North Korea was relatively more open about the complex as it negotiated and then implemented the Agreed Framework with the U.S. on freezing its nuclear program. And at...2022-04-121h 06North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsWhy North Koreans don’t have time to pursue hobbies – NKNews Podcast Ep. 230A unique characteristic of North Korean life is that almost all citizens must be a member of an organization. This begins at a young age, when kindergarten students learn to bow in unison to portraits of the country’s leaders. It ramps up in adolescence through participation in the Boy and Girl Scout-like Korean Children’s Union. And it continues in adulthood through membership in labor unions, the women’s union, the farmer’s union, the army and an array of other organizations — chief among them the Workers’ Party of Korea.
These organizations oversee what’s known in the DPRK as organizatio...2022-04-051h 22North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsNorth Korea’s ICBM test and what comes next – NKNews Podcast Ep. 229North Korea tested one of its biggest weapons for the first time in years last week, launching a long-range missile that soared 15 times higher than the international space station before splashing down in waters west of Japan. The DPRK soon claimed that it fired a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), with state media airing a dramatically edited video showing leader Kim Jong Un guiding the launch of the monstrous weapon.
While analysts have cast doubt on North Korea’s claim that it successfully test-fired a Hwasong-17, the launch still marked a significant escalation of tensions that prompted a military counter-response fr...2022-03-2959 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsNorth Korea goes viral on YouTube – NKNews Podcast Ep. 228There’s no shortage of YouTube content on North Korea, from straightforward news reports on the latest missile launch to over-the-top travelogues promising a rare glimpse into the world’s “most depressing” country. While informative videos exist on the platform, it can be difficult to separate hard facts from misleading exaggeration or even outright falsehoods with so many channels vying for viewers’ attention.
This week, two prominent YouTubers join the podcast to discuss how they seek to cut through the noise with their own videos about North Korea that both entertain and inform. Bart van Genugten of iGoBart and Benjamin Weston of...2022-03-221h 02North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsA Swiss mountain lover explores North Korea’s peaks – NKNews Podcast Ep. 227Mountains loom large in North Korea, not only dominating the topography but also much of the political symbolism of the regime. The country’s history books tell tales about the heroic exploits of Kim Il Sung and his revolutionaries battling against Japanese imperialists from mountain outposts. Mount Paektu on the Chinese border is the alleged birthplace of Kim Jong Il. Mount Kumgang on the east coast is renowned for its natural beauty and once drew thousands of South Koreans as part of an inter-Korean tourism project.
The terrain of the Korean Peninsula and the role it plays in the lives of...2022-03-1556 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsIs North Korea’s ultimate goal to conquer the South? – NKNews Podcast Ep. 226Journalists, experts and pundits have devoted significant time and energy to deciphering Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine in late February, with many seeing the Russian leader as motivated by a desire to rebuild the Soviet Union and correct the historical mistake of its dissolution. The war has raised parallels with the situation on the Korean Peninsula, where for more than 70 years North Korean leaders have resolved to achieve the “final victory” of reunification, with some arguing that the DPRK could even leverage nationalistic propaganda and nuclear blackmail to force the South’s capitulation.
This week, four North Korea experts...2022-03-101h 09
koreabizcastElection Special: Yoon Seok Yeol Wins Tightest Election RaceJacco Zwetsloot and Alex Jensen discuss Yoon Seok Yeol’s election yesterday in the 20th Korean Presidential election. With record participation rates, Yoon has secured 48.56% of the popular vote, leading Lee Jae Myung with 47.83% of the vote. Shim Sang Jung secured 2.37% of the popular votes as well.
Jacco Zwetsloot is a man of many hats. He works for PR firm Insight Communications, North Korea specialist news bureau NK News, and Economist Intelligence Corporate Network, part of the Economist Group. Calling himself a Jacco-of-all-trades, he writes and speaks for a living.
In terms of business, Jacco co...2022-03-1020 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsHow North Korea has responded to the war in Ukraine – NKNews Podcast Ep. 225Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine may be half a world away from the Korean Peninsula, but the implications of the two-week-old conflict are already being felt in Pyongyang and Seoul. North Korea has rallied behind its longtime friend Russia, while South Korea initially hesitated to sign onto economic sanctions against Moscow. ROK presidential candidates have also cited the war to justify their inter-Korean policies and discredit their opponents’ qualifications.
NK News reporters join the podcast for a roundtable discussion on links between Ukraine and North Korea, apparent contradictions in Pyongyang's position and whether the war represents the final nail in t...2022-03-0850 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsTracking state killings under Kim Jong Un – NKNews Podcast Ep. 224During Kim Jong Un’s first decade in power, the North Korean state has executed at least 23 people for crimes ranging from prostitution and “obscene acts” to watching South Korea media, according to a recent report from the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), a Seoul-based human rights organization.
This week, TJWG researcher Ahyeong Park joins the podcast to discuss the work that went into documenting these killings and how state executions have changed since Kim Jong Un came to power in 2011. She explains how the organization collects and verifies testimony from defectors, propaganda efforts to portray Kim as a benevolent leader...2022-03-0153 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsThe Unification movement and opening up North Korea – NKNews Podcast Ep. 223Tom McDevitt discusses Sun Myung Moon’s meeting with Kim Il Sung in 1991 and the importance of engaging North Korea. On the surface, the anti-communist leader of the Unification movement, commonly known as the Unification Church, and the leader of North Korea had little room for reconciliation. However, Moon traveled to Pyongyang to meet with Kim in 1991, and his church has pushed several investment initiatives in the DPRK.
This week, Tom McDevitt, chairman of The Washington Times, joins the podcast to discuss that visit and the importance of engaging North Korea to change the country and bring it into the in...2022-02-221h 00North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsThe man who invented North Korea’s Juche ideology – NKNews Podcast Ep. 222More than 20 years ago, the senior North Korean official Hwang Jang-yop walked into the South Korean Embassy in China and declared his intention to defect. His actions triggered a diplomatic standoff with Beijing and brought forth a stream of attacks from Pyongyang’s state media. He was the highest-ranking defector ever from the DPRK, having previously served as the architect of North Korea’s state ideology of self-reliance and as a mentor to Kim Jong Il.
This week, author John Cha joins the podcast to discuss Hwang and his legacy in both North and South Korea. Cha, who interviewed Hwang and...2022-02-151h 02North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsA journalist detained in North Korea – NKNews Podcast Ep. 221Rupert Wingfield-Hayes had wrapped up a reporting trip in North Korea and was about to board a flight out of the country when the ordeal started. The authorities suddenly detained him and took him for questioning, demanding that he confess to crimes against the state in an interrogation that extended late into the night.
This week, Wingfield-Hayes joins the podcast to share the story of his headline-grabbing detention by North Korea ahead of its Seventh Party Congress in 2016. The BBC Tokyo correspondent describes how his persistent questioning and blogging landed him in hot water, recounts the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that led...2022-02-0852 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsWhy is North Korea testing so many missiles? – NKNews Podcast Ep. 220North Korea rang in the lunar new year with a dramatic fireworks display this week, testing a ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam in its longest-range launch since 2017. The firing of the Hwasong-12 into the East Sea capped a busy January in which Pyongyang set a new record by conducting seven missile tests in a single calendar month — raising alarm in Seoul and Washington.
This week, the NK News team and international security expert Ankit Panda team up to examine this sudden barrage of testing and what it all means. In a wide-ranging discussion also av...2022-02-0158 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsThe ‘rookie mistakes’ of Trump-Kim diplomacy – NKNews Podcast Ep. 219Ever since the breakdown of talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump at Hanoi in 2018, prospects for denuclearization have grown increasingly dim. Yet there is historical precedent for a country to give up its nuclear weapons — South Africa — and some hold out hope that diplomacy might yet lead to a breakthrough on North Korea.
This week, Jenny Town of the website 38 North joins the podcast to talk about what has gone wrong in negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, and what it would take to induce the DPRK to surrender its nukes. She also addr...2022-01-2555 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsMissile tests, train shipments and redefection, oh my! – NKNews Podcast Ep. 218The new year has been an eventful one so far for North Korea watchers. Pyongyang has already test-launched missiles on four separate occasions. A defector who had settled in the South dramatically crossed the demilitarized zone to return to the North. Conservative presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol voiced support for a preemptive strike to stop North Korean missile attacks. And a freight train carrying goods entered the DPRK from China for the first time in 17 months.
Joining the podcast to discuss it all are key members of the NK News team — with an unexpected, ballistic interjection from Pyongyang live on air.
Th...2022-01-1851 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsUnification ministry veterans promoting Korean peace – NKNews Podcast Ep. 217Unification remains the official goal of inter-Korean policy on both sides of the Korean Peninsula, and the new Council on Diplomacy for Korean Unification (CDKU), founded by veterans of the country’s unification ministry, aims to keep the dream alive.
This week, Kim Hyeong-seok and J.R. Kim join the podcast to discuss their organization, which brings together retired unification ministry officials, scholars and other self-described “old-timers” of the North Korea watcher community to promote peaceful unification at the civilian level. They delve into what makes CDKU unique, their hopes to bring in younger voices and what they have planned for th...2022-01-1144 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsOpening the first US news bureau in North Korea – NKNews Podcast Ep. 216This January marks 10 years since the Associated Press became the first U.S. news agency to establish a bureau in Pyongyang. The opening gave the organization a unique vantage point from which to report on notoriously secretive North Korea, but also raised questions about how operating in the country might influence coverage.
As the AP’s Korean Peninsula bureau chief at the time, Jean Lee spearheaded efforts to open the Pyongyang bureau, and this week she joins the podcast to discuss the work that went into it and her numerous reporting trips to North Korea. Along the way, she shares he...2022-01-041h 12North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsThe biggest North Korea stories of 2021 – NKNews Podcast Ep. 215North Korea began 2021 with a major party conference and is now ending it with a multi-day plenum. Somewhere in the between, a lot else happened: Disinfection centers sprang up. Kim Jong Un lost weight. Health officials in hazmat suits goose-stepped through Pyongyang. Both Koreas launched an assortment of new weapons.
With 2022 right around the corner, the NK News team joins the podcast to look back on the year that was, and ahead to the year to come. They discuss their favorite articles, movies and drama about North Korea and the year’s biggest events, as well as give their boldest (an...2021-12-2849 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsSeeing past North Korean propaganda – NKNews Podcast Ep. 214CNN International Correspondent Will Ripley has visited North Korea a whopping 19 times since 2014, reporting on missile launches and nuclear tests while inside the country and covering the DPRK’s release of Otto Warmbier in a coma as the only American reporter on the ground.
On this week’s podcast, he talks about everything from his interviews with American detainees and sit-downs with high-level DPRK officials, to the goal of one day interviewing Kim Jong Un and why he feels his team can often do better reporting without a permanent presence in Pyongyang.
“Every trip inside North Korea I feel like we peel...2021-12-2146 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsBroadcasting live from Pyongyang – NKNews Podcast Ep. 213In his 24 years as a correspondent for CNN, Mike Chinoy had the opportunity to cover key moments in North Korean history from inside the country, from Jimmy Carter’s visit and the aftermath of Kim Il Sung’s death to a military parade held amid unprecedented famine. He joins the podcast to discuss what it’s like to report on the ground from a country that at first seemed like the “weirdest place on the face of the Earth,” and recounts experiences like his meeting with an “avuncular” Kim Il Sung and much more.
“If you look at North Korea as a jigsaw puzz...2021-12-141h 06North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsHas ‘Squid Game’ been smuggled into North Korea? – NKNews Podcast Ep. 212Recently, there have been reports that the Netflix hit “Squid Game” has made it into North Korea, and even that authorities have sentenced a man to death for smuggling copies of the violent drama. Yet experts have expressed doubt about these claims due to the DPRK’s ongoing COVID-19 controls.
This week, NK News reporters join the podcast to weigh in on the possibility that North Koreans are secretly watching the show, as well as to discuss a range of recent events on and around the Korean Peninsula. The roundtable conversation turns to whether the DPRK will accept a U.N. off...2021-12-081h 02North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsThe dangerous appeal of North Korean culture – NKNews Podcast Ep. 211North Korean propagandists have churned out a steady stream of cultural products for domestic and foreign audiences over the years — from films, TV shows and radio dramas to comic books and flashy music videos. While always laced with state ideology, these works also evolve in response to changing circumstances and leaders’ whims, providing another window into what’s happening in the DPRK.
This week, Professor Tatiana Gabroussenko joins the podcast to tease out the significance of the latest trends in North Korean culture. She argues that Kim Jong Un has steered cultural policy in a more conservative direction in recent years...2021-11-301h 03North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsNorth Korea’s response to global warming – NKNews Podcast Ep. 210A North Korean delegation recently joined the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, one of the first times DPRK representatives have attended such an event in person since the pandemic began. Yet North Korea’s participation was no anomaly: The country has long joined international efforts to combat global warming, including the Paris Agreement and U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.
This week, analyst and NK Pro contributor Gabriela Bernal joins the podcast to discuss Pyongyang’s approach to global warming and the serious environmental challenges that the country faces, such as widespread flooding in recent years. She...2021-11-2353 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsFemale breadwinners in North Korean households – NKNews Podcast Ep. 209The Arduous March famine of the 1990s forced many North Korean women to engage in informal economic activity to support their families, even as the state required their husbands to continue reporting to official but unpaid jobs. The result was that many women came to be their families’ primary breadwinners in a traditionally patriarchal society.
Hanna Song of the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) joins the NK News Podcast to discuss how this change in gender roles has impacted relationships between husbands and wives in the DPRK. She also explains the latest developments at NKDB, the difficulty of...2021-11-1654 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsNorth Korea rumblings in European capitals – NKNews Podcast Ep. 208South Korean President Moon Jae-in traveled to Europe late last month to attend the G-20 summit in Rome and COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, among other diplomatic meetings, and North Korea also made headlines by sending a delegation to the U.N. climate conference. But they weren’t the only ones in town: NK News’ own Jeongmin Kim (@jeongminnkim) and Chad O’Carroll (@chadocl) visited Stockholm and London from late October to get the scoop on debates about North Korea taking place in European capitals.
Jeongmin and Chad join the podcast to discuss what they learned during their trips, discussing topics...2021-11-0949 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsThe many lives of Yeonmi Park – NKNews Podcast Ep. 207Yeonmi Park burst onto the scene at the One Young World Summit in Dublin in 2014, when she recounted her life story and appealed for action on North Korean human rights in an emotional speech that went viral online. In the years since, Park has become arguably the world’s most famous North Korean defector, relocating from South Korea to the U.S. to write a memoir and starting a YouTube channel that now boasts 760,000 followers. She has also been no stranger to controversy, with critics alleging inaccuracies in her defection account and sensationalism in her remarks about the DPRK.
This we...2021-11-022h 00North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsInvestigating the Daejeon Massacre – NKNews Podcast Ep. 206Shortly after the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, South Korean forces killed thousands of political prisoners in Daejeon to prevent them from joining the North Koreans that were rapidly advancing south. The massacre has featured prominently in DPRK propaganda, but it only became a topic for public discussion in South Korea in recent decades with the declassification of U.S. documents and a high-profile government investigation.
Journalist David Miller joins the podcast to discuss his research into the massacre and what the writings of British communist Alan Winnington tell us about what happened. He also delves into the...2021-10-2652 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsRepatriating US soldiers’ remains from North Korea – NKNews Podcast Ep. 205More than 7,600 Americans are still missing from the Korean War, according to the U.S. government. While North Korea returned some U.S. servicemembers’ remains following the first U.S.-DPRK summit in 2018, the repatriation process has ground to a halt since the breakdown of denuclearization talks in 2019.
This week, retired U.S. Army Col. Ashton Ormes joins the podcast to discuss his many years at the front line of efforts to negotiate the return of Americans’ remains from North Korea. Ormes also talks about his multiple periods of service in Korea over the years, including his stint as secretary of t...2021-10-191h 32North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsNorth Korean human rights abuses and reunification – NKNews Podcast Ep. 204Nam Bada joins the podcast to talk about PSCORE (People for Successful Corean Reunification), how his organization helps defectors adjust to South Korean society, North Korean human rights abuses and the reunification of the Korean Peninsula.
Nam Bada is PSCORE's Secretary General and has worked with the organization since 2010.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists.2021-10-1238 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsA freewheeling, ‘Ask Me Anything’ special – NKNews Podcast Ep. 203A full roster of NK News journalists and contributors joins the podcast this week for a special Ask Me Anything roundtable discussion in celebration of 200 episodes.
With drinks in hand, the team responds to reader inquiries on a range of North Korea topics — from missile launches, reunification prospects and an end of war declaration to celebrity defectors, dating apps and inopportune breaking news stories.
This week’s episode features the following guests:
Andrei Lankov (@andreilankov) is a director at Korea Risk Group and writes exclusively for NK News as one of the world's leading authorities on North Korea.
Peter Ward (@rpcwar...2021-10-051h 02North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsThe shared future of the two Koreas – NKNews Podcast Ep. 202Scholars Mason Richey and David Tizzard join the podcast to discuss their new academic volume “The Future of the Korean Peninsula: Korea 2032 and Beyond,” which they co-edited along with Jagannath P. Panda.
Our guests dive into the significance of the year 2032 for North and South Korea and explain why they chose to analyze the two sides as a single entity, while arguing that confederation remains an unlikely path to inter-Korean reconciliation.
Mason Richey is an associate professor of international politics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. David A. Tizzard is an assistant professor at Seoul Women’s University, and you can fi...2021-09-281h 03North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsNorth Korean nukes, sanctions and the United Nations – NKNews Podcast Ep. 201Maiko Takeuchi joins the podcast to discuss her role in the United Nations (U.N.) Panel of Experts (PoE), which analyzes information for reports on North Korean sanctions implementation that are submitted to the U.N. Security Council (UNSC). She was a member of the PoE from April 2016 to April 2021.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists.2021-09-211h 07North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsA 200th episode roundtable – NKNews Podcast Ep. 200This week marks the release of the NK News podcast’s 200th episode. As though to celebrate the occasion, the DPRK has produced a number of newsworthy events in recent days, including a nighttime military parade and long-range cruise missile tests.
For this roundtable episode, a large roster of NK News journalists and contributors joins host Jacco Zwetsloot to discuss what happened and what it all means. They cover both the parade and missile tests, as well as the upcoming U.N. Panel of Experts report, the COVID-19 situation in the DPRK, the latest trade data, anti-China sentiment in South Ko...2021-09-141h 06North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsA Canadian detained in China – NKNews Podcast Ep. 199In Aug. 2014, Chinese state security personnel arrested the Canadian couple Kevin and Julia Garratt at a restaurant in the northeastern city of Dandong. Kevin, who had operated a coffee shop with his wife in the city since 2008, would end up spending the next 775 days in Chinese detention on accusations of espionage, in a case with numerous similarities to the arrest and ongoing incarceration of North Korea consultant Michael Spavor, as well as fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig.
As Spavor spends his 1,000th day in a Chinese prison, Kevin Garratt joins the podcast to discuss his own extended imprisonment at the same...2021-09-0551 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsCreativity and propaganda in North Korean music – NKNews Podcast Ep. 198Music is an omnipresent part of North Korean life, from the eerie electronic ballad that plays every morning in Pyongyang to the propaganda tunes sung to accordion accompaniment at schools and workplaces.
For this week’s episode, Professor Keith Howard joins the NK News podcast to discuss the role of music and dance as vehicles for North Korean state propaganda, as well as to listen to and analyze compositions about the country’s leaders. Howard also traces the origins of the DPRK’s music in calisthenic exercise during the Japanese colonial era, the development of traditional Korean instruments and North Korea’s...2021-08-311h 10North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsFailing to foresee China’s entry into the Korean War – NKNews Podcast Ep. 197Less than three months after the outbreak of the Korean War, U.N. and ROK troops made their now-famous amphibious landing at Incheon and began to push north. U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, from his perch in Tokyo, ordered troops to continue past the 38th parallel all the way to the border with China, ultimately triggering the PRC to send troops across the Yalu River and setting up the division of the Korean Peninsula that continues to this day.
On this week’s podcast, Jonathan Corrado and Markus Garlauskas discuss why MacArthur and the U.S. intelligence community failed to an...2021-08-241h 05North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsPyongyang or bust: DPRK tourism and the pandemic – NKNews Podcast Ep. 196North Korea was the first country to stop all international travel following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Jan. 2020, and it may well be the last to reopen after the pandemic finally ends. The self-imposed lockdown has had huge consequences for the country’s economy — including the small but not insignificant tourism sector.
This week, three North Korea tourism professionals join the podcast for a roundtable discussion on the nature of the industry and what the future holds after the pandemic. Our guests — Rowan Beard, Simon Cockrell and Henry Marr — share their thoughts on the benefits of tourism for North Koreans and trav...2021-08-171h 16North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsTelling North Korean resettlers’ stories with fashion – NKNews Podcast Ep. 195Some 33,000 North Korean defectors have entered South Korea since 1998, but many report that they encounter discrimination in the South due to their backgrounds, as well as challenges stemming from culture and language differences between the two Koreas.
On this week’s podcast, Jihyun Kang and Marie Boes, founders of the fashion brand ISTORY, discuss the origin of their idea to use clothes and graphic design to improve the lives of North Korean resettlers and how they have sought to create a platform for defectors to counter stereotypes by sharing their experiences with a wider audience.
Jihyun Kang is a fashion de...2021-08-1035 min
The Un-Diplomatic PodcastProgressive Politics and North Korean Nuclear Crises: Dr. Van Jackson's Interview with NK News | Ep. 95In this special crossover episode with the NK News podcast, Dr. Van Jackson has a wide-ranging discussion with its host, Jacco Zwetsloot. Van and Jacco talk about Van's writing process, how close we got to nuclear war in 2017, what the Biden administration is missing on North Korea, the East Asian peace, and his political evolution.
2021-08-031h 01North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsHow Trump brought Korea to the brink of nuclear war – NKNews Podcast Ep. 194Some observers have argued that North Korea followed a familiar pattern of raising tensions for the purpose of extracting concessions during the 2017 nuclear crisis, maintaining that there was never any serious danger of war breaking out on the Korean Peninsula.
On this week's podcast, Professor Van Jackson explains why 2017 was different: Donald Trump’s foreign policy brought the U.S. and DPRK perilously close to a catastrophic nuclear conflict, he says. Jackson also discusses what he views to be serious problems with Joe Biden’s “conservative” North Korea policy and how he uses his own show, “The Un-Diplomatic Podcast,” to bring hip-ho...2021-08-0359 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsFront row at the Korean War armistice talks – NKNews Podcast Ep. 193For this special National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day episode, Korean War veteran Richard Underwood joins the podcast to talk about experiences before and during the Korean War, including meeting Syngman Rhee, seeing a young Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang and working as an interpreter at the Kaesong peace talks.
For more on Richard Underwood’s life, see his autobiography, “What A Fun LIFE!: A Medley of Memories of an American in Korea before, during, and after the Wars.”
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all thi...2021-07-271h 02North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsWorking with the disabled in North Korea – NKNews Podcast Ep. 192Humanitarian professional and author Carla Vitantonio joins the NK News podcast this week to discuss her four years in North Korea working with and for people with disabilities, the impact of international sanctions on humanitarian aid and leaving a diplomatic job to work at a nongovernmental organization (NGO).
Vitantonio was a country director and project coordinator in North Korea for Handicap International (now Humanity & Inclusion) from Dec. 2013 to Aug. 2016, and she now serves as the country representative in Cuba for CARE.
Vitantonio is the author of two Italian-language books: “Pyongyang Blues” and “Myanmar Swing.” An English-language excerpt from “Pyongyang Blues” about the Arira...2021-07-211h 00North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsAn interview with Stephen Biegun – NKNews Podcast Ep. 191In an exclusive interview with NK News, former top U.S. envoy on North Korea Stephen Biegun provides his first-hand account of U.S. negotiations with a rotating lineup of North Korean interlocutors on the country’s denuclearization program and his reflections on the outcomes of that engagement as the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State from Dec. 2019 to Jan. 2021 and as the U.S. Special Representative for North Korea from Aug. 2018 to Jan. 2021.
A feature-length write-up of the interview is available here: https://www.nknews.org/2021/07/an-interview-with-stephen-biegun-former-us-envoy-to-north-korea/
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast ho...2021-07-142h 23North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsLaughing along with North Korean comedy films – NKNews Podcast Ep. 190Dr. Immanuel Kim joins the NK News podcast this week to talk about women and sexuality in DPRK literature, his translation of a popular North Korean novel and the striking sense of humor on display in the country’s short films.
Kim is a professor of Korean literature and culture studies at George Washington University and is the author of three books: “Rewriting Revolution: Women, Sexuality and Memory in North Korean Fiction,” “Friend: A Novel from North Korea” and “Laughing North Koreans: The Culture of Comedy Films.”
North Korean films discussed in this episode include “Boasting Too Much,” “Our Fragrance” and “The Treasure That...2021-07-061h 07North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsWhen Trump visited the DMZ – NKNews Podcast Ep. 189In this week’s podcast, Lieutenant Colonel Sean Morrow talks about his unique stories and experiences during his time as commander of the United Nations Security Battalion from June 2018 to June 2020, and as the host of U.S. President Donald Trump during the Panmunjom meeting.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists.
Mentioned in the episode: Bridges at Panmunjom - The Wilson Quarte...2021-06-2959 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsCrazy price fluctuations in Pyongyang – NKNews Podcast Ep. 188In this roundtable podcast episode, the NK News team discusses the ever-changing and wild price fluctuations seen in North Korea in the last few weeks.
Host Jacco Zwetsloot is joined by Chad O’Carroll, founder of NK News and NK Pro; Colin Zwirko, senior analytic correspondent for NK News; and Peter Ward, a researcher on North Korean politics and contributing analyst to NK Pro.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the fiel...2021-06-1854 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsDocumenting human rights abuses in North Korea – NKNews Podcast Ep. 187Joining us on the podcast this week is Dr. Sandra Fahy to talk about her two books on North Korea — Marching through Suffering (2015) and Dying for Rights (2019) — as well as her current academic pursuits and the overlap and difference between human rights work and humanitarian work.
Fahy's Twitter and books can be found here and here.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journa2021-06-151h 02North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsTeaching entrepreneurship in North Korea – NKNews Podcast Ep. 186In this week’s episode, Ian Bennett joins the podcast to discuss the work of Choson Exchange. As program director, he runs entrepreneurship workshops in the Pyongyang and Pyongsong regions and in an online format. We discuss the history and criticisms of Choson Exchange, as well as how Ian got involved and how things are running online amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more information, see chosonexchange.org or follow them on Twitter [at]chosonexchange.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to e...2021-06-0847 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsTwo years in Pyongyang – NKNews Podcast Ep. 185Lindsey Miller (@LindseyMiller87) lived in Pyongyang from 2017 to 2019, during some of the most turbulent times on the Korean Peninsula in recent memory. She joins the NK News Podcast to talk about her personal experiences in North Korea, photography in the capital city and beyond, connecting with the community, and her new book North Korea: Like Nowhere Else: Two Years of Living in the World's Most Secretive State.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and anal...2021-06-011h 26North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsWhat happened at the Moon-Biden summit – NKNews Podcast Ep. 184In this special post-summit roundtable podcast, the NK News team deep dive into the most recent ROK-US summit and the leaders’ joint statement. They pick apart what Presidents Biden and Moon discussed at their summit in Washington, D.C. last Friday. They look at each presidential priorities in regard to North Korea issues, reasonable satisfaction with the outcomes, denuclearization talks with North Korea and on the Korean Peninsula, acceptance from the Biden administration on whether North Korea will be deemed a rogue nuclear state like with India and Pakistan, the mention of Japan and cooperation to address the DPRK, Son Ki...2021-05-2539 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsHow the hardliners prevailed in North Korea – NKNews Podcast Ep. 183Germany's long-time ambassador to North Korea, Thomas Schäfer, joins the NK News podcast to discuss diplomatic life in North Korea, politics in Pyongyang, changes in attitudes and beliefs over time among there, Germany's approach to scientific and cultural exchange, nuclear weapons, the lessons of German reunification for the Korean Peninsula, and why he is not optimistic about the prospectives for change under the Kim Jong Un regime.
Thomas Schäfer was the German ambassador to North Korea from 2007 to 2010 and from 2013 to 2018. He is the author of a new book on his time in Pyongyang called "From Kim Jong Il...2021-05-181h 40North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsH. R. McMaster on North Korea and denuclearization – NKNews Podcast Ep. 182Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General and former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster joins the NK News podcast to discuss why past efforts to denuclearize North Korea have failed, China's role on the Korean Peninsula and the U.S.-ROK alliance.
H.R. McMaster is the author of the recently released book "Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World" as well as "Dereliction of Duty." You can also find him on Twitter and Instagram.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from...2021-05-1156 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsBiden’s North Korea policy review and what it means – NKNews Podcast Ep. 181In this exclusive roundtable podcast, the NK News team discusses the Biden administration's North Korea policy review, the latest from Pyongyang's state media and Kim Jong Un's crackdown on anti-socialist behavior among his country's youth.
Host Jacco Zwetsloot is joined by NK Pro correspondent Min Chao Choy and analysts Peter Ward and James Fretwell.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists.
Correction (Ma...2021-05-0447 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsThe US, sanctions and North Korean denuclearization – NKNews Podcast Ep. 180In this week's podcast episode, Anthony Ruggiero — a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former North Korea expert advising the White House — talks about the Biden administration's upcoming DPRK policy review, his time with the U.S. National Security Council and how the U.S. can more effectively communicate the logic behind sanctions.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own...2021-04-2759 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsNorth Korea and the ‘third world’ – NKNews Podcast Ep. 179In this week's podcast episode, Benjamin R. Young talks about his new book, "Guns, Guerillas, and the Great Leader." He discusses North Korea's foreign relations with the so-called "third world" during the Cold War and how its relations with these countries have changed over the past few decades.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists.2021-04-2055 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsComing to America – NKNews Podcast Ep. 178North Korean defector Hyun-seung "Arthur" Lee discusses life in North Korea and why he got out, the lives of North Korea's elite, Kim Jong Un's "Youth League" and more.
Lee's YouTube channel can be found here.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists.2021-04-1359 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsDiabetes and healthcare in North Korea – NKNews Podcast Ep. 177Dr. Cho Nam Han discusses North Korea's health and medical care system, the surprisingly high rate of diabetes in the country, malnutrition, insulin production, urban and rural divides and ways for the world to help remedy disease rates and treatment.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists.2021-04-0632 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsBallistic missiles, alliances and extraditions – NKNews Podcast Ep. 176In this week's podcast episode, the NK News team breaks down North Korea's recent ballistic missile launches, relations between Seoul and Washington and the first-ever extradition of a DPRK citizen to the United States.
Host Jacco Zwetsloot is joined by NK News reporters Chad O’Carroll, Jeongmin Kim, Colin Zwirko and Min Chao Choy.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists.2021-03-301h 01North Korea News Podcast by NK NewsUnderstanding North Korea’s missiles and military – NKNews Podcast Ep. 175In this week's podcast episode, Joost Oliemans — an expert on the North Korean military — discusses his new book, "North Korea's Armed Forces: On the Path of Songun."
Oliemans discusses the Cheonan ship sinking and why it wasn't a conspiracy, how to study the North Korean military and how North Korea sells weapons abroad.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists.2021-03-2355 min
GMS FocusMyanmar Coup and ProtestsJacco Zwetsloot joins the show to break down the ongoing protests in Myanmar and how some people see a parallel between the current situation and the 1980 Gwangju Democratization Movement.2021-03-1816 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsUS-ROK joint military exercises, explained – NKNews Podcast Ep. 174Lt. Col. Steve Tharp, who is now retired, discusses the history of joint U.S.-ROK exercises, inter-operability and why he's not buying North Korea's claims that military drills are provocative.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists.2021-03-1654 minNorth Korea News Podcast by NK NewsArt, power and propaganda in North Korea – NKNews Podcast Ep. 173Koen de Ceuster, a lecturer at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, explores the role of art in North Korean society, the Mansudae Art Studio and the art 'business,' and why it is not possible to separate propaganda from the 'real' North Korea.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists.2021-03-091h 07TBS eFM Life: AbroadOctober 6 Tue - TBS eFM Life: AbroadOctober 6 Tue - TBS eFM Life: AbroadJuly 2 Thur - TBS eFM Life: AbroadJune 25 Thur - 
SeoulPodcastForget it, Jacco. It's Itaewon.SeoulPodcastGuestJacco Zwetsloot NK News Podcast - nknews.orgKBS World RadioTopicsCoronavirusWhat did Korea do right?Is mask wearing a cultural matter?What about the end of visa-free travel to korea?Korea’s treatment of foreigners compared to other countries.Election season during the pandemicWhat do you think will change, if anything?...2020-04-151h 16