North Korea News Podcast by NK News

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol made the unprecedented decision to impose martial law on Tuesday, plunging the country into political chaos and leading the parliament to take action to force him to rescind the order just hours later. In a special joint episode, members of the NK News and Korea Pro teams dissect the dramatic and unexpected turn of events, from why Yoon justified martial law as...

North Korea launched more balloons filled with trash across the border last week, just days after the leader’s sister denounced another round of alleged anti-regime leafleting.  NK News Seoul Correspondent Ifang Bremer joins the podcast to discuss the latest launches and how local governments in South Korea are clamping down on activist leafleting due to fears of DPRK retaliation. He also talks ab...

On this week’s episode, retired Major General Urs Gerber joins the podcast to discuss the current state of inter-Korean relations and what has changed since he served as head of the Swiss Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) in Panmunjom a decade ago. He also talks about the changing role of the NNSC since its formation following the end of the Korean War and the most memorable incident f...

Kim Jong Un blasted U.S. support for Ukraine at a major army conference this week, despite ongoing military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.  NK News Junior Correspondent Joon Ha Park joins the podcast to discuss the Fourth Conference of Korean People’s Army Battalion Commanders and Political Instructors held in Pyongyang earlier this month, as well as reports that North Korea has receive...

On today’s episode, former U.S. government official and scholar Sean King joins the podcast to discuss what Washington’s foreign policy is likely to look like under President-elect Donald Trump.  He’ll also talk about who Trump has picked for his administration so far and their relevance to events on and around the Korean Peninsula, as well as how North Korea’s deployment of troops to aid Russia w...

Editor’s note: Starting Nov. 21, our full-length episodes with special guests will only be available to NK News subscribers. This shift allows us to invest in bringing you top-quality interviews, exclusive insights and a more comprehensive NK News experience. Listeners who sign up before Nov. 30 pay just $1 for their first month, then get 50% off for the next 12 months. Visit nknews.org/join to su...

Editor’s note: Starting Nov. 21, our full-length episodes with special guests will only be available to NK News subscribers. This shift allows us to invest in bringing you top-quality interviews, exclusive insights and a more comprehensive NK News experience. Listeners who sign up before Nov. 30 pay just $1 for their first month, then get 50% off for the next 12 months. Visit nknews.org/join to su...

Editor’s note: Starting Nov. 21, our full-length episodes with special guests will only be available to NK News subscribers. This shift allows us to invest in bringing you top-quality interviews, exclusive insights and a more comprehensive NK News experience. Listeners who sign up before Nov. 30 pay just $1 for their first month, then get 50% off for the next 12 months. Visit nknews.org/join to su...

Editor’s note: Starting Nov. 21, our full-length episodes with special guests will only be available to NK News subscribers. This shift allows us to invest in bringing you top-quality interviews, exclusive insights and a more comprehensive NK News experience. Listeners who sign up before Nov. 30 pay just $1 for their first month, then get 50% off for the next 12 months. Visit nknews.org/join to su...

Editor’s note: Starting Nov. 21, our full-length episodes with special guests will only be available to NK News subscribers. This shift allows us to invest in bringing you top-quality interviews, exclusive insights and a more comprehensive NK News experience. Listeners who sign up before Nov. 30 pay just $1 for their first month, then get 50% off for the next 12 months. Visit nknews.org/join to su...

Editor’s note: Starting Nov. 21, our full-length episodes with special guests will only be available to NK News subscribers. This shift allows us to invest in bringing you top-quality interviews, exclusive insights and a more comprehensive NK News experience. Listeners who sign up before Nov. 30 pay just $1 for their first month, then get 50% off for the next 12 months. Visit nknews.org/join to su...

Editor’s note: Starting Nov. 21, our full-length episodes with special guests will only be available to NK News subscribers. This shift allows us to invest in bringing you top-quality interviews, exclusive insights and a more comprehensive NK News experience. Listeners who sign up before Nov. 30 pay just $1 for their first month, then get 50% off for the next 12 months. Visit nknews.org/join to su...

North Korea is infamously intolerant of religion, harshly cracking down on faith as a potential threat to the regime. But that doesn’t mean the officially atheistic state is completely free of believers. Religious studies scholar Roman Husarski joins the podcast to talk about the different religions that are active in North Korea, how believers practice their faith and the extent to which they hav...

North Korea has deployed troops to assist Russian forces in Ukraine, the ROK presidential office asserted last week, with Seoul’s spy agency publishing evidence that Russian naval vessels transported DPRK special forces to the Far East earlier this month. NK News Data Correspondent Anton Sokolin joins the podcast to discuss what we know about the number of troops that have been deployed, how they...

Frank Aum, a senior expert on Northeast Asia at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), joins the podcast to talk about a recent event the institute hosted which focused on past efforts at Korean peace, as well as a retrospective he wrote on the 70th anniversary of the 1954 Geneva Peace Conference for USIP.  He also discusses why he believes the United States and South Korea’s prioritization of denucl...

North Korea claimed on Friday that a South Korean drone scattered anti-regime leaflets over Pyongyang, threatening military retaliation if such “provocations” continue. NK News CEO Chad O’Carroll and Seoul Correspondent Ifang Bremer join the podcast for a special roundtable episode to discuss Pyongyang’s claims, as well as who was behind the incursions.  They also talk about the risks the DPRK too...

Jihyun Park escaped from North Korea, not once but twice. Now a politician and activist in the U.K., Park joins the podcast to share her story of how she escaped and why she decided to settle in Britain rather than South Korea.  She also talks about the need to include escapees in public discussions about the DPRK, how she became involved in activism for North Korean human rights and her political...

South Korea publicly debuted a new “monster” ballistic missile that is central to plans to take out DPRK leadership in the event of war during a parade to mark Armed Forces Day.  NK News Junior Correspondent Joon Ha Park joins the podcast to discuss the event and ROK President Yoon Suk-yeol’s announcement of the establishment of the new Strategic Command (STRATCOM) to oversee military responses to...

Youngah Lee of People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) joins the podcast to discuss the progressive civil society group’s advocacy for inter-Korean peace and restarting dialogue between Seoul and Pyongyang. The activist explains why she believes establishing a “peace regime” on the peninsula is the first step toward reunification and why the return of wartime operational control of...

Former Japanese defense minister Shigeru Ishiba will take charge as the country’s new prime minister this week, and he could bring a new approach to relations with nuclear neighbor North Korea, questioning his predecessors’ reliance on sanctions and endorsing dialogue with Pyongyang. NK News Correspondent Shreyas Reddy joins the podcast to discuss what Tokyo’s new leader could have in store when i...

Seongmin Lee, an escapee from North Korea, joins the podcast to discuss his work to smuggle information into the DPRK through Flash Drives for Freedom, a project under the nonprofit Human Rights Foundation. He talks about how the international community can support the project, the future goals of the program and criticism that the Human Rights Foundation has faced.  He also discusses his work as...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw tests of a new ballistic missile and “highly upgraded” cruise missile last week, releasing images of the launches that appeared aimed at demonstrating that the weapons are combat-ready. NK News Senior Analytic Correspondent Colin Zwirko joins the podcast to discuss how the missiles augment the DPRK’s growing arsenal, as well as South Korea’s warning that it...

With Swedish diplomats returning to work at the country’s embassy in North Korea this week, former British ambassador to the DPRK John Everard joins the podcast to discuss the process for others to make their return and rumors of North Korean diplomats being allowed to rotate into Western countries.  He also talks about North Korea’s evolving relationship with Russia and what the future of their t...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un toured a uranium enrichment facility to inspect advanced centrifuges, according to state media last week, providing a rare look inside its nuclear program. NK News Deputy Managing Editor Alannah Hill joins the podcast to discuss the message Pyongyang sought to send by confirming the existence of a second enrichment facility, and whether Kim’s visit was related to th...

A recent undergraduate research project used satellite imagery to analyze the number of cars on the streets of North Korea’s second-biggest city, and uncovered some surprising results. Historian David Fields joins the podcast to discuss what the data reveals about infrastructure upgrades and vehicle use in the DPRK, as well as to discuss his book on Syngman Rhee and what he learned from reading de...