This week, Korea Risk Group Executive Director Jeongmin Kim kicks off the podcast by discussing North Korea’s upcoming plans for New Year’s Day, including the possibility of a special message from leader Kim Jong Un. NK News’ Kim discusses how the DPRK leader has retreated from the tradition of delivering a dedicated New Year’s Day […]

2025 was packed with news from the Korean Peninsula: new presidents assumed office in South Korea and the United States, North Korea expanded its cooperation with Russia and Pyongyang finally opened its long-awaited beach resort. In this special year-end episode, the NK News team joins the podcast to revisit their most compelling stories of the […]

This week’s podcast starts by discussing the U.N. General Assembly’s adoption of a resolution condemning North Korea’s human rights abuses for the 21st consecutive year. NK News correspondent Jooheon Kim explains the implications of the resolution and Seoul’s support, before talking about messages to South Korean President Lee Jae Myung from the families of prisoners […]

Gabe Segoine, the founder of the first surfing program in North Korea and the Christian nongovernmental organization Love North Korea Ministries, joins the podcast to discuss his experience searching for waves off the isolated country’s coast and providing humanitarian aid for its people. He recalls his experience at the Chinese airport en route to North […]

This week’s podcast kicks off with the 2003 murder case of a North Korean man in St. Petersburg, previously known as the “criminal capital” of Russia, and the unanswered questions surrounding his brutal death at the hands of a neo-Nazi group. NK News data correspondent Anton Sokolin then discusses North Korea’s reaction to Russian Ambassador […]

Former Australian diplomat Jane Hardy joins this episode to discuss how Australia has engaged with North Korea over the past few decades, and what that experience reveals about diplomacy, deterrence and nuclear risk today.  Hardy, who spent over 30 years in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, shares insights from her work on […]

This week’s episode opens with the news of the sudden death of Russia’s ambassador to North Korea, Alexander Matsegora, who died at 70 on Saturday following decades of diplomatic service on the Korean Peninsula. NK News founder Chad O’Carroll then discusses his recent appearance at a high-profile press conference with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, […]

This week, Dr. Joëlle Hivonnet joins the podcast to discuss her four-year tenure as the EU’s deputy head in Seoul from 2016, a tumultuous era in inter-Korean relations defined by both tensions and diplomacy. Hivonnet talks about how U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats against North Korea transformed into summit talks between leader Kim Jong Un, […]

This week, NK News senior analytic correspondent Colin Zwirko joins the podcast to discuss recent developments along the inter-Korean border, as well North Korea’s latest event showcasing new air force weaponry. He begins by sharing what satellite imagery shows about the DPRK’s construction projects within the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone, some of which appear to […]

This week, Lonnie Edge of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies joins the podcast to discuss North Korea’s strategies for portraying itself as a legitimate government both inside and outside its borders. According to Edge, the Kim regime has become adept at changing its narrative or policies to address crises or changes in circumstances, such as […]