North Korea News Podcast by NK News

This week’s podcast features a panel discussion with NK News journalists on what to expect from North Korea in the year ahead, taking stock of what they got right about 2025 and making new predictions for 2026.

The panelists discuss why DPRK leader Kim Jong Un doubled down on military development last year but didn’t end up meeting U.S. President Donald Trump. They then explain why Pyongyang will continue to bet on Russia ties in the new year but will still hedge by returning to talks with Washington.

The discussion also covers the possibility that North Korea will push for nuclear energy in 2026, as well as black-swan events like missile launch disasters and information security breaches that could cause major disruptions to Pyongyang’s plans.

This episode features the following members of the NK News team:

Chad O’Carroll — CEO of Korea Risk Group

Jeongmin Kim — Executive Director at Korea Risk Group

Colin Zwirko — Senior Analytic Correspondent

Shreyas Reddy — Lead Correspondent

Anton Sokolin — Data Correspondent

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 insights from our very own journalists.

This week’s podcast starts by discussing the U.S. military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend and its implications for North Korea and its leader.

NK News correspondent Shreyas Reddy then speaks about Pyongyang’s condemnation of the U.S. attack on its longtime ally, accusing Washington of attempting to exercise dominion over the world.

He also explains why North Korea will be closely watching the U.S.’s next steps, as well as why Kim Jong Un may not be sweating a similar operation against him thanks to his ace in the hole — nuclear weapons.

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 insights from our very own journalists.

Yong Ja Hong, a PhD candidate studying North Korean society, culture and media at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, joins the podcast to discuss the history of sports in North Korea, even before the peninsula was separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

She recalls North Korean athletes who competed on the international stage, including a track star who was briefly reunited with her South Korean father, and sheds light on how modern sports made its way into the peninsula.

Hong, an NK News contributor, also talks about how basketball’s popularity took off suddenly throughout the country during Kim Jong Il’s rule and how baseball never found solid footing amongst the people.

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.

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 speech over the years, instead opting to publish personal letters to the people in the party daily or lay out his annual priorities in remarks at end-of-year party plenums.

The discussion also covers North Korea’s unveiling of a purported 8,700-ton nuclear-powered submarine, which state media described on Christmas Day as a necessary deterrent against a nuclear submarine that the South plans to build.

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 insights from our very own journalists.

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 year. 

NK News data correspondent Anton Sokolin, correspondents Joon Ha Park and Jooheon Kim, executive director Jeongmin Kim, founder Chad O’Carroll, lead correspondent Shreyas Reddy and senior analytic correspondent Colin Zwirko unpack their stories ranging from Russia’s radioactive delivery to North Korea to Pyongyang’s record-breaking crypto theft.

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.

NK News subscribers can listen to this and other exclusive episodes from their preferred podcast player by accessing the private podcast feed. For more detailed instructions, please see the step-by-step guide at nknews.org/private-feed.

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 of war and abductees trapped in North Korea.

Finally, the conversation turns to Hyundai Asan’s stated goal of working with North Korea to resume inter-Korean tourism projects, including the commissioning of a vessel to transport South Korean tourists to the North.

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 insights from our very own journalists.

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 Korea, where customs authorities assumed his surfing wax was an explosive. He also discusses how authorities prevented him and his cohorts from openly discussing their faith, even inspecting their Bibles to ensure no pages were left in the country.

Segoine has helped establish small humanitarian projects in North Korea and kicked off what he describes as “surfing diplomacy” in 2014. He has visited the country 19 times and is the author of “Surfing North Korea: And Other Stories from Inside.”

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.

NK News subscribers can listen to this and other exclusive episodes from their preferred podcast player by accessing the private podcast feed. For more detailed instructions, please see the step-by-step guide at nknews.org/private-feed.

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 Alexander Matsegora’s sudden death in Pyongyang, including leader Kim Jong Un’s appearance at the diplomat’s memorial service.

Finally, Sokolin talks about the monthslong deployment of North Korean soldiers to Russia’s Kursk region, where they were tasked with clearing explosives left by Ukrainian troops. The DPRK troops reportedly suffered nine fatalities during the deployment, with Kim heralding them for performing their duties with valor.

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 insights from our very own journalists.

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 Korean Peninsula issues during the Sunshine Policy era, including Australia’s brief normalization with Pyongyang and her own visit to North Korea in 2001. 

Jane Hardy is a former senior Australian diplomat who has served in seven long-term overseas missions, four at ambassador level. She also held numerous senior executive positions at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Canberra, during her 33-year career. Jane is now a senior fellow at the U.S. Studies Center, Sydney University advising the Women in the Alliance program. 

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.

NK News subscribers can listen to this and other exclusive episodes from their preferred podcast player by accessing the private podcast feed. For more detailed instructions, please see the step-by-step guide at nknews.org/private-feed.

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, where his question about long-detained South Korean citizens in North Korea unexpectedly became a national story. 

Finally, O’Carroll reflects on his trip to the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada. He describes conversations with Western officials, Ukrainians, and journalists, expressing frustration at what he sees as a persistent lack of understanding or urgency around North Korea’s role in supplying Russia during the war in Ukraine. 

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 insights from our very own journalists.