North Korea News Podcast by NK News

This week, Dr. Vipin Narang joins the NK News podcast to unpack how the U.S. and South Korea are seeking to strengthen extended deterrence against North Korean threats under the joint Nuclear Consultative Group, a platform that he helped develop and lead as a key nuclear policy official under the Biden administration. Narang highlights how […]

This episode of the NK News podcast unpacks the unusual loyalty relays taking place across North Korea, where both children and adults carry letters pledging fealty to Kim Jong Un. NK News Lead Correspondent Shreyas Reddy also discusses new murals of the leader, some of which appear to have replaced longstanding depictions of his father […]

This week, Stephen Mercado returns to the NK News Podcast to discuss his new book, “Japanese Spy Gear and Special Weapons,” and how Japan’s secretive Noborito Research Institute supported covert operations targeting the DPRK during the Korean War.  Mercado is a former CIA analyst and open source officer who worked for most of his career […]

This week, NK News Correspondent Joon Ha Park joins the podcast to discuss newly revealed DPRK state media footage that appears to blame Russia for North Korean casualties during fighting against Ukraine. He also talks about what President Lee Jae-myung said about the DPRK at a press conference to mark his first 100 days, as […]

This week, the NK News podcast explores the New York Times’ recent revelations about a 2019 U.S. Navy SEAL mission on North Korea’s coast. The operation reportedly aimed at installing surveillance equipment but went awry, resulting in the death of unarmed North Koreans and raising escalation risks. Mark Sauter, a former U.S. Army soldier with […]

This week, NK News Senior Analytic Correspondent Colin Zwirko joins the podcast to discuss North Korea’s “static firing test of a high-thrust solid-fuel motor” used in long-range nuclear missiles, a week after Kim Jong Un inspected a new ballistic missile design. The conversation then turns to Kim’s high-profile trip to Beijing, his first in six […]

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made his appearance at a large-scale multilateral event on Wednesday, standing shoulder to shoulder with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin at China’s Victory Day parade in Beijing. But was this just optics, or did it mark a deeper realignment of global power blocs? NK News Lead Correspondent Shreyas Reddy […]

In this episode, Go Myong-hyun of Seoul’s Institute for National Security Strategy returns to the podcast to assess the recent summit between South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump. He also looks ahead to Kim Jong Un’s expected appearance in Beijing on Sept. 3 for a Victory Day parade marking the […]

On this episode, scholar Joseph Torigian joins the podcast to discuss his new biography of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s father and Xi senior’s delicate diplomacy with North Korea in the 1980s. Torigian explores Xi Zhongxun’s role in rebuilding ties, navigating the DPRK’s succession politics and nudging Pyongyang toward reform. He also talks about how China […]

In this week’s episode, NK News Deputy Managing Editor Alannah Hill breaks down President Lee Jae-myung’s first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, where Lee appealed for Trump to take on a “peacemaker” role with Pyongyang.  She also discusses the flood of newly released state media footage showing North Korean troops in combat in Russia’s […]