Hosts Sug Shin and Dan Chung discuss the North Korean hacking apparatus in its totality. In edition to the crypto heist that we discussed in Ep. 2, North Korea engages in all matter of activities related to hacking. Some experts has dubbed this "The All-Purpose Sword" (link below). Besides its growing nuclear and ICBM capabilities, North Korea has quietly been organizing its military around its cyber operations. The hosts discuss some of the more public cyber attacks the country has engaged in over the years as well as some of the methods they currently employ. Dan also gets into the issues that Crossing Borders faces surrounding the prospect of spies infiltrating their networks. The episode ends with Sug and Dan bemoaning their parents' susceptibility to phishing and other online scams.   

Links:
The All-Purpose Sword study

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 Hosts Sug Shin and Dan Chung discuss the boats that have washed up on the shores of Japan. Nobody knows exactly why. Since the year 2011, when 57 North Korean ships drifted to Japan. There were 156 in 2019. Some boats were in tact. Some were completely destroyed. And some had corpses on them, earning them the moniker "ghost ships." Sug and Dan speculate the possible reasons why this might be happening. The hosts discuss the difficulties refugees face in making a maritime escape from North Korea and explore the advantages and disadvantages of escaping by land or by water.

Crossing Borders' Giving Tuesday Campaign: https://cbgivingtuesday2022.funraise.org/

Link to the Hakai Magazine Article: https://hakaimagazine.com/features/how-north-korea-built-a-fleet-of-ghost-ships/

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 Hosts Sug Shin and Dan Chung explore the parallels of North Korea and the 1998 movie "The Truman Show." Like the movie, there have been several attempts at revealing the truth to North Korean citizens, the hosts discuss some of these attempts. Dan also describes a new, creative method that North Korean refugees in South Korea and hack the seemingly impenetrable, closed phone system of North Korea. The hosts also talk about the dramatic scene in 2017 at the Demilitarized Zone in which a North Korean soldier attempts to cross the border into South Korea and gets shot several times doing so. They also discuss the incredible work of Jacob Bogle, a man who "spied" on North Korea by using Google Earth.

North Korean soldier escape video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq3CXm9zCy0
North Korea Google Earth Follower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poHTA94-BeY

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 Hosts Sug Shin and Dan Chung discuss the real and perceived horrors of North Korea and go through scary North Korean legends and compare them to reality. Along the way, Dan talks about his brush with the paranormal in the quiet suburban town of Glenview, Ill. The two chat about the ghost stories coming from North Korea and the region. Dan has never heard any of the stories or tropes in all his hours spent with the refugees. Perhaps everyday life in North Korea is disturbing enough.

Note: This episode has content that might not be appropriate to all audiences.

Lake Tianchi monster: https://non-aliencreatures.fandom.com/wiki/Lake_Tianchi_Monster

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 Hosts Sug Shin and Dan Chung talk about the practical and bizarre use of English in everyday life in South Korea. This has essentially created a hybrid language that North Korean refugees must learn. Dan was fresh off the plane from his trip to South Korea to teach North Korean refugees some key Konglish words to North Koreans there and he goes into detail about what he saw and how vital it is for North Korean refugees to learn this new use of the English language. The two hosts get into the similarities between Konglish and "Janglish," which is used in Japan and furthermore, the use of Japanese words in everyday Korean language. They also get into Korean words they wish were adopted into American culture. 

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 Hosts Sug Shin and Dan Chung discuss the surprisingly complex topic of crying in North Korea. North Korean men usually display a facade of impervious toughness to the world. But during certain events such as state funerals, they display seemingly excessive amount of tears. Dan schools Sug on the monitoring of such state events by North Korean minders who are writing down each North Korean's emotions during such events. The hosts discuss the "big brother-ness" of it all and wonder how the North Korean government can make anything meaningful out of the millions of pages of data they have on their own citizens. They also discuss the culture behind crying both in the US and Korea. At the end, Sug displays to Dan the full extent of his abilities to cry on demand. 

Here's a link to the funeral footage Dan and Sug watched during the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BDz4rFPTqY 

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 Hosts Sug Shin and Dan Chung discuss the disastrous 2009 North Korean currency reform. While not a salacious topic, the effects were devastating for the people of North Korea. Overnight, the North Korean people were instructed to change their old money for new money but the cap on this exchange was the equivalent of $40 USD. This destroyed the life savings of many North Koreans, sent the economy into a nose dive, and even lead to a rare case of political unrest. Dan also shares a call he had in 2009 with people who work in North Korea and their strange request for rice. The hosts also discuss who took the fall and how this man was executed, who is actually safe in North Korea, and how the power of the regime is mixed with their own cult of personality. The hosts conclude as they usually do, by giving suggestions to the regime on how they can do a better job next time. 

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 Hosts Sug Shin and Dan Chung are joined by friend and Crossing Borders' events coordinator Tony Kang to discuss what has become known as "The Pongsu Incident." In 2003, North Korean citizens were caught running heroine into Australia in what is now considered to be one of the biggest drug stings that Victoria has ever seen. Yes, that's right. North Korea is responsible for one of Australia's largest drug busts. The three hosts discuss the incident in all of its peculiar details including the lead up to the incident, what North Korea could have been motivated by, the ineptitude of the smugglers and much, much more. The hosts give suggestions on what North Korea can do better next time.  

You can learn more about the incident in this video, which was created by Vice News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fqz-UenejQw

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 Hosts Sug Shin and Dan Chung talk about family reunifications between people from the North and South. When the DMZ (demilitarized zone) went up, it abruptly severed all communications. Families were separated and zero contact between the two sides. Most didn't expect the separation to occur so suddenly and permanently. For decades, people didn't know whether their loved ones were dead or alive. 

These reunions require cooperation and participation between the North and South. Sug and Dan discuss the political and familial intricacies involved and even suggest to the Dear Leader himself some ways he can make these reunions even better. 

2018 family reunions: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45243108

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In this special episode, Sug and Dan interview our guest engineers, Dan's kids. The four discuss a whole range of issues related to North Korean children integrating themselves with the outside world, especially to life in South Korea. Dan and Dan's children speak in detail about the challenges they face growing up as a minority in America and how their struggles are relatable to the North Korean experience. They discuss the challenges in education and economics for North Korean refugees and the deluge of information they suddenly have access to with newfound access to the internet. We end the episode with Dan's children's cultural recommendations for North Korean children. 

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