The intertwined histories of the two Koreas, and what the future holds – Ep. 313

The seas around the Korean Peninsula have been busy recently, following the defection of four North Koreans in a wooden boat and a South Korean mission to help a DPRK vessel stranded north of the inter-Korean maritime border. NK News Lead Correspondent Jeongmin Kim (@jeongminnkim) discusses both incidents and the controversy over the military’s response to the defectors.

Then, Victor Cha (@VictorDCha) and Ramon Pachero Pardo (@rpachecopardo) sit down in the studio to discuss their recently published book “Korea: A New History of South and North.” They talk about major moments in the Koreas’ modern history and how their different nationalities influenced their perspectives when writing the book. They also respond to an NK News review of their book and criticism that it oversimplified North Korea issues.

Victor Cha is the senior vice president for Asia and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is also a professor of government and served as director for Asian Studies at Georgetown University for a decade. From 2004 to 2007, he was director for Asian affairs at the White House, where he was responsible for coordinating U.S. policy for Japan, the two Koreas, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Island nations.

Dr. Ramon Pacheco Pardo is professor of International Relations at King’s College London and the KF-VUB Korea Chair at the Brussels School of Governance of Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He is also King's Regional Envoy for East and South East Asia.

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.