North Korea News Podcast by NK News

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 decades of the first South Korean president’s diaries.

David Fields is the associate director of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Fields earned his PhD in history at the same University, specializing in U.S.-Korean relations. He is the author of “Foreign Friends: Syngman Rhee, American Exceptionalism, and the Division of Korea,” and the editor of “The Diary of Syngman Rhee” and “Divided America, Divided Korea: The U.S. and Korea During and After the Trump Years.”

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.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently inspected a site for a new naval base, revealing plans to construct a port capable of operating “large, modern surface and underwater vessels” as he pushes to revitalize the country’s navy.

NK News Seoul Correspondent Ifang Bremer joins the podcast to discuss Kim’s weekend activities, as well as South Korea’s new defense minister and North Korea’s barrage of trash balloon launches in recent days. 

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.

Cooperation between North Korea and Russia across various sectors has gone from strength to strength in recent years, with major implications for the Korean Peninsula and beyond.

This week, scholar Bo Ram Kwon joins the podcast to talk about how Moscow’s war in Ukraine has shifted the security dynamics for South Korea, particularly strategic planning with the U.S.

She also discusses the possibility that the DPRK could coordinate with China in the event of a Taiwan contingency, as well as how the international community can effectively respond to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile provocations.

Dr. Bo Ram Kwon is a research fellow in the Center for Security and Strategy at Korea’s Global Strategy Division at the Institute for Defense Analyses. Her research expertise includes U.S. security and defense strategy, the U.S.-ROK alliance, the nexus between U.S. foreign policy and domestic politics and economic 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 journalists.

North Korea appears to be preparing for a large-scale outdoor concert in Pyongyang to celebrate the country’s foundation day on Sept. 9, according to NK News analysis of satellite imagery.

NK News CEO Chad O’Carroll joins the podcast to discuss the DPRK’s foundation holiday, as well as reports that a North Korean foreign ministry delegation is expected to attend the U.N. General Assembly and the return of foreign professors to a private university in Pyongyang.

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.

Research analyst Decker Eveleth joins the podcast to discuss where exactly North Korea’s missile program stands today, and why it presents a security problem not only for Asia and the U.S. but for the entire globe. 

He also talks about the benefits of working with open-source intelligence, such as sharing intel publicly and providing new analysis, as well as a piece he wrote for NK Pro that delves into how North Korea’s tactical missile deployment could enable it to overwhelm and destroy adversary defenses. 

Decker Eveleth is an associate research analyst at the CNA Corporation, a Washington-based nonprofit research and analysis organization. He studies North Korean and Chinese nuclear force structures utilizing mixed methods, including satellite imagery. 

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.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected new “suicide drones” and urged production of small drones that ordinary troops can use against “any enemy target,” according to state media on Monday.

NK News Data Correspondent Anton Sokolin joins the podcast to discuss the new drones, as well as Kim’s demand to incorporate artificial intelligence in their development.

He also talks about Russia’s first language exchange with the DPRK in some four years, and conflicting reports about how recent flooding has impacted North Korea’s crops.

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.

In his newly published book, “How Tyrants Fall: And How Nations Survive,” political scientist Marcel Dirsus examines the workings and malfunctions of dictators around the globe, including North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. 

He joins the podcast to discuss the differences between authoritarian systems, how tyrants come into and fall out of power, and the unique aspects of the DPRK’s leadership system. 

Dr. Marcel Dirsus is a non-resident fellow at the Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University in Germany, as well as a member of the Standing Expert Committee on Terrorism and Interior Security at the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. He mainly works on regime instability, political violence and German foreign policy. He has advised democratic governments, foundations, multinational corporations and international organizations like NATO and the OECD. 

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.

In a speech on Liberation Day, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol embraced a new vision of unification that seeks to “extend freedom” to the suffering masses in North Korea. 

NK News CEO Chad O’Carroll and Lead Correspondent Jeongmin Kim join the podcast to discuss Yoon’s speech, which deviates from decades of policy toward Pyongyang by embracing unification by absorption, as well as the start of large-scale U.S.-ROK summer military exercises to train for the possibility of conflict with 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.

The Global South has continued to grow in political importance in recent years, as the U.S., China and Russia battle for influence among countries in the Southern Hemisphere. And that contest also has implications for addressing a range of North Korea issues.

This week, Rob York of the Pacific Forum joins the NK News podcast to discuss how the countries of the Global South think about the DPRK’s human rights, and what the U.S. can do to win their support for efforts to address the problem. 

He also talks about the evolution of Pyongyang’s illicit efforts to fund its nuclear and missile programs, the relevance of international sanctions after the collapse of the U.N. Panel of Experts and how early English-language newspapers in South Korea covered the authoritarian government of Syngman Rhee and the “puppet state” of North Korea.

Rob York is the director for regional affairs at the Pacific Forum. He previously worked as a production editor for The South China Morning Post and chief editor of NK News. He earned his Ph.D. in Korean history at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

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.

North Korea only sent 14 athletes to compete at the Paris Olympics, its first Summer Games in eight years, but its small contingent managed to take home six medals, demonstrating the country’s ability to consistently punch above its weight in sports. NK News correspondent Shreyas Reddy discusses where the DPRK had the most success, and moments where the humanity of its athletes shone through.

Then, NK News’ Ifang Bremer talks about a joint investigation with Tamedia and Der Spiegel that found that a North Korea expert who mysteriously disappeared earlier this year has been detained in Switzerland on suspicions of spying, likely for China.

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.