North Korea News Podcast by NK News

North Korea celebrated the 75th anniversary of its army on Wednesday, revealing a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile and showing off more long-range missiles than ever before at a single event.

Kim Jong Un's young daughter was also front and center during the event and even accompanied her father to a pre-parade banquet.

But the parade was also notable for what it lacked, with no Kim Jong Un speech, no new conventional capabilities and no obvious COVID-19 protocols less than two weeks after a lockdown in the capital.

The NK News team breaks down all the details from North Korea's latest military spectacle, what it may mean for the country's weapons testing this year and what it says about the domestic political situation going forward.

This podcast features NK News founder Chad O’Carroll (@chadocl), Lead Correspondent Jeongmin Kim (@jeongminnkim) and Senior Analytic Correspondent Colin Zwirko (@ColinZwirko).

Watch the NK Pro KCNA Watch stream of North Korea's latest parade here: https://kcnawatch.org/kctv-archive

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.

The Seoul metropolitan area is only around 30 miles from North Korea and would be a major attack point in most any conflict scenario. This puts some 25 million people — about half of South Korea’s entire population — at considerable risk.

David Walsh and Andrew Gilholm have thought about risk scenarios and damage mitigation on the Korean Peninsula for decades, and they join the NK News podcast this week to discuss how to overcome complacency about large-scale threats, evacuation plans in case of a North Korean attack and how geography increases risks.

David Walsh is the vice president of operations for DR&A Advisory, where he manages international security projects and threat management. He is also the former manager of security at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul.

Andrew Gilholm is a principal and director of the analysis practice for Greater China and North Asia at Control Risks, overseeing coverage of political, regulatory and security issues across the region. Andrew has worked in the political risk industry focusing on China and Korea for 17 years.

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.

Improving the lives of the North Korean people and ensuring they can exercise universal rights and liberties are among the most important tasks for international actors working in and with the country. But digging beneath the surface quickly reveals that humanitarianism and human rights are different spheres with significantly different approaches to the problems facing the country.

This week, Danielle Chubb and Nazanin Zadeh-Cumming join the NK News Podcast to discuss their recent paper exploring an area of common ground between the two camps — disability rights — and the potential for further meaningful change in this space.

The two scholars also talk about how to overcome the politicization of engagement with Pyongyang, why North Korea rejects human rights as irrelevant and how the U.N. Commission of Inquiry report in 2014 led to positive changes.

Danielle Chubb (@danielle_chb) is an associate professor of international relations at Deakin University in Geelong, Australia. Nazanin Zadeh-Cummings (@nzadehcummings) is the Associate Director of Research at the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership and a senior lecturer in Humanitarian Studies at Deakin.

The first 50 visitors can read Chubb and Zadeh-Cumming’s paper, “International engagement with North Korea: disability, human rights and humanitarian aid” for free at the following link: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/DPABIWF6AZXPQWYYPABD/full?target=10.1080/01436597.2022.2141217

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.

Kim Kang-woo escaped North Korea in 2016, promising his widowed mother that he would raise the money needed to get her out too. But after brokers were unable to arrange her escape, he decided to take matters into his own hands, crossing the border back into North Korea to attempt a dramatic rescue that reads like something out of a movie script.

Washington Post journalist Michelle Ye Hee Lee reported on Kim’s unique story last year and joins the NK News podcast to talk about the immense dangers, costs and heartbreak that North Koreans face when they decide to escape the country. 

Lee also discusses reporting on North Korea through Tik Tok, Pyongyang’s own experiments with social media, what it was like in Japan when North Korea sent a missile over the country last year and more.

Michelle Ye Hee Lee (@myhlee) is the Seoul and Tokyo bureau chief for The Washington Post.

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.

Multiple North Korean drones entered ROK airspace and even breached a no-fly zone near the presidential office late last year, prompting Seoul to order its own unmanned aerial vehicle to cross the border and photograph a DPRK military facility.

The Yoon administration’s stated eagerness to “punish” what it considers North Korean provocations has significantly upped the stakes on the Korean Peninsula, and the risk of miscommunication and poor signaling leading to conflict looks set to continue to increase in 2023.

This week, the NK News team joins the podcast to consider the new risk environment in the region and other recent North Korea developments. They discuss the evolving controversy over drone incursions, Pyongyang’s latest solid-fuel missile engine test, North Korea’s reported shipment of weapons to Russia’s Wagner Group, the most recent party plenum and more.

This podcast features NK News Lead Correspondent Jeongmin Kim (@jeongminnkim), Analyst James Fretwell (@JamesFretwe11) and Correspondent Shreyas Reddy (@shreyas_k_reddy).

Check out our 2023 predictions pieces about the North Korean economy, society, nuclear and weapons development, and more here: Part I | Part II

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.

The NK News Podcast wants to hear from you! Fill out the listener survey at the following link for a chance to win a free 12-month subscription to NK News: CLICK HERE FOR SURVEY

U.S.-North Korea relations have been stuck in place for the last two years, as other geopolitical developments seem to dominate Washington’s attention. But North Korea has not stood still — pushing its weapons programs and tensions to new heights. 

What is the view from the White House, and will the Biden administration refocus on the Koreas now that the midterms are over?

Several members of the NK News team recently spent a week in Washington and New York City meeting with government officials, think tank analysts and other North Korea watchers, and they join the podcast to discuss what they learned about the lack of urgency on North Korea, whether the U.S. will ever accept the DPRK as a nuclear state, Seoul’s “escalatory” rhetoric and more. 

This podcast features NK News founder Chad O’Carroll (@chadocl), Lead Correspondent Jeongmin Kim (@jeongminnkim) and Senior Analytic Correspondent Colin Zwirko (@ColinZwirko).

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.

The number of North Korea books to choose from gets bigger every year, and it can be challenging to figure out where best to start. 

That’s where David Tizzard comes in. The Seoul-based university lecturer has reviewed several books for NK News and joins the podcast to share his favorites from the past year — as well as the ones to avoid.

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.

Throughout this year, North Korea has repeatedly framed its weapons tests as simple reactions to U.S.-ROK efforts to restart military exercises and boost deterrence. It claims its long-range missile launches, sortie flybys, artillery drills and other military activities are necessary defensive moves against U.S. “hostile policy.”

But Gordon Flake, CEO of the Perth USAsia Center at the University of Western Australia, says the primary driver of North Korean missile testing is actually technical — not the action or inaction of Washington or Seoul.

He joins the NK News Podcast to discuss a range of issues on the peninsula and in the region, including why this historic year of missile tests isn’t a game changer, how AUKUS is oriented around DPRK threats and whether Australia is the best place to wait out nuclear war.

Gordon Flake is the founding CEO of the Perth USAsia Center at the University of Western Australia. He is also governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia, co-chair of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea and was previously director for Research and Academic Affairs at the Korea Economic Institute of America, amid other affiliations.

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.

In 2019, the activist Adrian Hong led a daring raid on North Korea’s Embassy in Madrid, stealing hard drives and documents and apparently assaulting embassy staff.

Initial news reports suggested that Free Joseon, Hong’s human rights activist group that advocates for overthrowing the Kim regime in Pyongyang, was behind the raid. But it soon became clear that it was far more complex than a simple smash-and-grab, possibly even involving the CIA and a fake kidnapping attempt.

In his new book, “The Rebel and the Kingdom,” Bradley Hope attempts to unpack the events of that February day by focusing on the ringleader himself. And he joins the NK News podcast this week to discuss his findings — from Hong’s upbringing and background in DPRK human rights to how he put together Free Joseon and the continuing fallout from the Madrid raid.

Hope also touches on the plight of Christopher Ahn, the daring escape of Kim Jong Un’s nephew from Macau and more.

Bradley Hope is an award-winning author based in London. He is the New York Times bestselling co-author of “Billion Dollar Whale” (2018) and “Blood and Oil” (2020).

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.

Tension remained elevated on the peninsula in November as North Korea continued an array of weapons tests, including its first successful launch of its largest nuclear-capable missile and dozens of other ballistic and artillery tests. 

But another development arguably garnered more attention than even the massive Hwasong-17: North Korean state media revealed Kim Jong Un’s daughter for the first time in its coverage of the intercontinental ballistic missile launch. The unnamed girl appears to be around 10 years old and may be the same one NBA Hall-of-Famer Dennis Rodman said he met when he visited Pyongyang in 2013.

This week, the NK News team explores the litany of theories about why she appeared now and whether she is the new heir to the North Korean throne. They also discuss the arrests of multiple Moon Jae-in government officials over the 2020 death of an ROK civil servant in DPRK waters, U.S. strategic assets on the peninsula, a BTS member serving at the inter-Korean border and how risks rise the longer tensions remain high.

This week’s episode features Analyst James Fretwell (@JamesFretwe11), Seoul Correspondent Ifang Bremer (@IfangBremer) and Editorial Intern Yeji Chung (@chung_yeji).

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.