North Korea News Podcast

On today’s episode, former U.S. government official and scholar Sean King joins the podcast to discuss what Washington’s foreign policy is likely to look like under President-elect Donald Trump. 

He’ll also talk about who Trump has picked for his administration so far and their relevance to events on and around the Korean Peninsula, as well as how North Korea’s deployment of troops to aid Russia will impact Trump’s promise to end the war in Ukraine. 

Sean King is senior vice president at Park Strategies in New York and writes frequently on U.S.-Asia matters. He is a former scholar and used to work in the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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.

Editor’s note: Starting Nov. 21, our full-length episodes with special guests will only be available to NK News subscribers. This shift allows us to invest in bringing you top-quality interviews, exclusive insights and a more comprehensive NK News experience.

Listeners who sign up before Nov. 30 pay just $1 for their first month, then get 50% off for the next 12 months. Visit nknews.org/join to subscribe and get access to daily news and analysis, as well as special invites to webinars and events.

Beijing took a particularly firm stance on security issues related to the Korean Peninsula at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting in Peru this week, saying it “will not sit idly by when its strategic security and core interests are under threat.”

Korea Pro Editor John Lee joins the podcast to discuss how North Korea’s deployment of troops to aid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has changed the dynamics on the peninsula, as well as the possibility of Seoul providing weapons to Kyiv. 

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.

Editor’s note: Starting Nov. 21, our full-length episodes with special guests will only be available to NK News subscribers. This shift allows us to invest in bringing you top-quality interviews, exclusive insights and a more comprehensive NK News experience.

Listeners who sign up before Nov. 30 pay just $1 for their first month, then get 50% off for the next 12 months. Visit nknews.org/join to subscribe and get access to daily news and analysis, as well as special invites to webinars and events.

In this week’s episode, Minjung Kim joins the podcast to discuss the Ten Principles for the Establishment of a Monolithic Leadership System, a North Korean doctrine that outlines how citizens should act and that authorities use to justify the suppression of freedom of expression. 

She talks about the status of these ten principles in the DPRK and their relation to the country’s other foundational documents, as well as how the preamble to these principles may change now that Kim Jong Un has taken the goal of reunification with South Korea off the table. 

Dr. Minjung Kim is Deputy Director of Unification Human Rights Studies at the Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS) in Seoul, South Korea, and the president of Save NK.

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.

Editor’s note: Starting Nov. 21, our full-length episodes with special guests will only be available to NK News subscribers. This shift allows us to invest in bringing you top-quality interviews, exclusive insights and a more comprehensive NK News experience.

Listeners who sign up before Nov. 30 pay just $1 for their first month, then get 50% off for the next 12 months. Visit nknews.org/join to subscribe and get access to daily news and analysis, as well as special invites to webinars and events.

A North Korean soldier lies on the ground, dead or comatose. Above the body, a hand holds a red military ID with the Korean People’s Army emblem. The photo purports to be evidence of the DPRK’s troop deployment to fight Ukraine. The only problem is it is likely fake.

This week, NK News correspondent Shreyas Reddy joins the podcast to discuss the rash of staged or edited media that has circulated online in the wake of North Korea’s troop dispatch to Russia, and how this development could harm Kyiv’s interests by undermining its credibility.

He also talks about the recent series of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on South Korean government websites, and explains why Russian hackers mobilized to carry out the cyberattacks over Seoul’s response to the DPRK’s military deployment.

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.

Editor’s note: Starting Nov. 21, our full-length episodes with special guests will only be available to NK News subscribers. This shift allows us to invest in bringing you top-quality interviews, exclusive insights and a more comprehensive NK News experience.

Listeners who sign up before Nov. 30 pay just $1 for their first month, then get 50% off for the next 12 months. Visit nknews.org/join to subscribe and get access to daily news and analysis, as well as special invites to webinars and events.

Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. election this week marks the return to power of a president who prioritized diplomatic outreach to North Korea during his first term, including holding two summits with leader Kim Jong Un.

The NK News team joins the podcast for a special roundtable episode to discuss why Trump’s return could bring a sea change to DPRK policy, and the possibility of a resumption of personal diplomacy between Kim and Trump.

They also discuss how the president-elect could approach relations with South Korea, new developments in North Korea’s nuclear program and the risk of another round of “fire and fury” on the peninsula.

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

CEO Chad O’ Carroll

Lead Correspondent Jeongmin Kim

Senior Analytic Correspondent Colin Zwirko

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.

Editor’s note: Starting Nov. 21, our full-length episodes with special guests will only be available to NK News subscribers. This shift allows us to invest in bringing you top-quality interviews, exclusive insights and a more comprehensive NK News experience.

Listeners who sign up before Nov. 30 pay just $1 for their first month, then get 50% off for the next 12 months. Visit nknews.org/join to subscribe and get access to daily news and analysis, as well as special invites to webinars and events.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) called the “Hwasong-19” on Oct. 31, debuting the country’s biggest solid-fuel weapon to date.

NK News Managing Editor Bryan Betts joins the podcast to discuss the new missile, as well as the latest on North Korea’s troop deployment to Russia and Ukraine’s claim that it has already clashed with DPRK forces in Kursk. 

He also talks about how NK Pro analysis shows North Korea has started the costly task of removing references to the country’s “Juche” year naming system from thousands of plaques and monuments nationwide.

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.

Editor’s note: Starting Nov. 21, our full-length episodes with special guests will only be available to NK News subscribers. This shift allows us to invest in bringing you top-quality interviews, exclusive insights and a more comprehensive NK News experience.

Listeners who sign up before Nov. 30 pay just $1 for their first month, then get 50% off for the next 12 months. Visit nknews.org/join to subscribe and get access to daily news and analysis, as well as special invites to webinars and events.

With the U.S. presidential election just days away, Bruce Klingner joins the podcast to discuss how the re-election of Donald Trump could impact the Korean Peninsula and prospects for North Korea’s denuclearization.

He also talks about how Seoul may be forced to adjust its defense budget under Trump and the probability of Pyongyang conducting a seventh nuclear test. 

Bruce Klingner specializes in Korean and Japanese affairs as a senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation’s Asia Studies Center. Prior to that, he had 20 years of service at the Central Intelligence Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency. He last featured on the podcast on Episode 73.

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.

Editor’s note: Starting Nov. 21, our full-length episodes with special guests will only be available to NK News subscribers. This shift allows us to invest in bringing you top-quality interviews, exclusive insights and a more comprehensive NK News experience.

Listeners who sign up before Nov. 30 pay just $1 for their first month, then get 50% off for the next 12 months. Visit nknews.org/join to subscribe and get access to daily news and analysis, as well as special invites to webinars and events.

North Korea’s troop deployment to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine appears to be moving quickly, with NATO confirming on Monday that DPRK soldiers are already in the Kursk region near the Ukrainian border.

NK News Lead Correspondent Jeongmin Kim joins the podcast to discuss the latest developments in the story, including the possibility that South Korea will send “offensive weapons” or military experts to Ukraine.

She also discusses North Korea’s final report on alleged South Korean drone intrusion and the DPRK’s scattering of “anti-South Korea leaflets” across Seoul for the first time in 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 Korea is infamously intolerant of religion, harshly cracking down on faith as a potential threat to the regime. But that doesn’t mean the officially atheistic state is completely free of believers.

Religious studies scholar Roman Husarski joins the podcast to talk about the different religions that are active in North Korea, how believers practice their faith and the extent to which they have freedom from state control.

He also discusses a piece he wrote for NK News about the only Orthodox cathedral in North Korea and why South Korea’s branch of the Orthodox church claims it played a bigger role than Russia in the construction of the house of worship.

Roman Husarski is an assistant lecturer at the Institute of the Middle and Far East at Jagiellonian University in Poland. He holds a Ph.D. from the Institute of Religious Studies from the same university. He focuses on both South and North Korean religions and is currently conducting a research grant on the evolution of the myth of Kim Il Sung in North Korean cinema.

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 has deployed troops to assist Russian forces in Ukraine, the ROK presidential office asserted last week, with Seoul’s spy agency publishing evidence that Russian naval vessels transported DPRK special forces to the Far East earlier this month.

NK News Data Correspondent Anton Sokolin joins the podcast to discuss what we know about the number of troops that have been deployed, how they were transported and where they have ended up.

He also talks about videos of the alleged DPRK soldiers circulating online, one of which purports to show North Korean soldiers receiving Russian uniforms at a military base in the Russian Far East.

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.