North Korea News Podcast by NK News

John Linton, also known by his Korean name Ihn Yo-han, first visited North Korea with his mother as part of efforts to eradicate tuberculosis in the country. He has since visited the DPRK almost 30 times for various humanitarian aid projects, and hopes to again step foot in the country in his new role as a lawmaker of South Korea’s National Assembly. 

Linton joins the podcast to discuss the current slump in inter-Korean relations, which he says have been on the decline since long before the current administration. He also discusses what reunification could mean for the peninsula in terms of national resources and transport links, as well as how it could provide opportunities for young South Koreans. 

Dr. John Linton was born to American parents in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province and is now a naturalized Korean citizen. A medical doctor, he served as director of the International Health Care Center at Severance Hospital until recently. He is now a lawmaker in South Korea’s National Assembly as a member of the conservative People Power Party.

Editor's note: Since the recording of this podcast, Linton has been assigned as a member of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee. 

About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot (@JaccoZed) 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 held a major plenary session of the Workers’ Party of Korea this week, with leader Kim Jong Un presiding over the meeting. Photos published in the Rodong Sinmun of the plenum showed North Korean officials delivering speeches while wearing badges with Kim Jong Un’s portrait on them, the first confirmed use of such badges within the DPRK.

NK News Data Correspondent Anton Sokolin joins the podcast to discuss what may have been discussed during the plenum, as well as to set the record straight on false news reports that North Korea said it will dispatch troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine within a month. 

About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot (@JaccoZed) 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 launched balloons toward the South for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, bringing the total number of launches to seven since May as the DPRK continues to retaliate against anti-regime leafleting by ROK activists.

Pastor Eric Foley of the Voice of the Martyrs Korea, an NGO that regularly sends Bibles to the North by balloon, joins the podcast to discuss the purpose of balloon launches and why there are better and worse ways to carry them out.

He explains why he believes it defeats the purpose when activists publicize leafleting efforts, the conditions necessary to effectively send balloons North and how his group seeks to reduce the environmental impact of its launches.

Eric Foley is the CEO of the Voice of the Martyrs 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.

North Korea launched a sixth round of trash balloons toward the South on Tuesday night, according to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the latest in a wave of inter-Korean incidents that have included border incursions by DPRK soldiers. 

NK News Correspondent Shreyas Reddy (@shreyas_k_reddy) joins the podcast to discuss new details about what the DPRK’s balloons have been dumping in the South, the possible resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts on both sides of the border and more details from Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s summit with Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang last week. 

About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot (@JaccoZed) 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.

After arriving late, Russian leader Vladimir Putin kicked off his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on Wednesday. In addition to much fanfare, including a parade and concert, the pair also took their ties to the next level by signing a Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Article 4 of which vows that either side will “immediately provide military assistance” in the case of an attack on the other. 

NK News Data Correspondent Anton Sokolin and Senior Analytic Correspondent Colin Zwirko (@ColinZwirko) join the podcast to discuss the language of the treaty and what it could mean for Moscow-Pyongyang military cooperation. 

About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot (@JaccoZed) 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.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin is set to touch down in Pyongyang for a “friendly state visit” from June 18 to 19, according to the Kremlin. During his trip, Putin will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and the pair may sign a “comprehensive strategic partnership.” 

NK News CEO Chad O’Carroll (@chadocl) joins the podcast to discuss what this partnership could entail, what else Putin and Kim could get up to during the Russian leader’s first visit to the DPRK in two decades and how China could interpret the trip. He also touches on the latest cross-border leafleting and Seoul’s temporary reactivation of loudspeaker broadcasts.

About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot (@JaccoZed) 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.

Following a barrage of balloon launches across the inter-Korean border, North Korea analyst Daniel Pinkston joins the podcast to discuss why North Korea is sending trash South and how Seoul should respond. 

He also talks about how North Korea uses “digital authoritarianism” to control its citizens with technology, as well as the DPRK’s international arms trade and Pyongyang’s move away from reunification with the South. 

Daniel Pinkston (@dpinkston) is a lecturer in International Relations at Troy University and previously served as Northeast Asia deputy project director for the International Crisis Group in Seoul.

About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot (@JaccoZed) 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 bombarded the South with hundreds more waste-carrying balloons over the weekend, leading Seoul to set up loudspeakers along the border and carry out a propaganda broadcast for the first time since 2018.

Meanwhile, NK News analysis has found that the DPRK is clearing land inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) at six different locations, likely in violation of the Korean War Armistice Agreement that prohibits military activity in the 2.5-mile border area.

NK News correspondent Ifang Bremer sits down in the studio to discuss the rapid pace of recent inter-Korean developments and how the DMZ construction may relate to Kim Jong Un’s call for the North to redefine its borders.

Editor’s note: This podcast was recorded before the ROK military announced on Tuesday that the North Korean military intruded across the inter-Korean land border on Sunday.

About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot (@JaccoZed) 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.

When North Korea released a new song praising leader Kim Jong Un in April, the regime was likely not expecting it to go viral around the world. 

DPRK historian Peter Moody joins the podcast to discuss Pyongyang’s latest hit, the popularity of North Korean girl bands and how they are influenced by K-pop, representative works that offer insight into what the country was like at the time of their creation, and his favorite North Korean song.

Peter Moody is a PhD graduate of Columbia University and a research fellow at Sungkyunkwan University. He is a North Korea historian with research interests in ideology and music diplomacy who also follows contemporary trends in culture and domestic politics.

About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot (@JaccoZed) exclusively for NK News.

North Korea has launched around 1,000 balloons toward the South since last week, each carrying around 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of waste, including cigarette butts and manure. 

NK News CEO Chad O’Carroll (@chadocl) and Senior Analytic Correspondent Colin Zwirko (@ColinZwirko) sit down in the studio to discuss the DPRK’s unusual launches and its anger at leafleting by ROK activists.

They talk about Kim Yo Jong’s snarky justification for the balloon barrage, Seoul’s warning that it could restart loudspeaker broadcasts along the border in retaliation and whether the latest episode in the two sides’ long-running dispute over leaflets could open the door for information warfare campaigns.

About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot (@JaccoZed) exclusively for NK News.