300 episodes

The NK News Podcast is a weekly program covering all things North Korea: Discussion on the latest news, extended interviews with leading specialists, and insight from our own staff. We welcome both generalist and specialist audiences interested in knowing more about the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea News Podcast NK News

    • Society & Culture
    • 5.0 • 1 Rating

The NK News Podcast is a weekly program covering all things North Korea: Discussion on the latest news, extended interviews with leading specialists, and insight from our own staff. We welcome both generalist and specialist audiences interested in knowing more about the Korean Peninsula.

    How North Korea rinses the dirty proceeds of its cyber heists – Ep. 335

    How North Korea rinses the dirty proceeds of its cyber heists – Ep. 335

    North Korea continues to process cargo through a border disinfection facility established during the pandemic despite taking steps to ease COVID-19 controls, according to NK Pro analysis. NK News senior analytic correspondent Colin Zwirko joins the podcast to talk about why the DPRK leadership may be using the center to search for politically sensitive goods, as well as leader Kim Jong Un’s appearances at recent military drills, North Korea’s deployment of a new naval vessel and more.



    Then, Geoff White of “The Lazarus Heist” podcast returns to discuss his new book Rinsed about how the tech industry helps launder money for criminals — including North Korean hackers. He explores how the DPRK has worked with shady partners found on the dark web and even a Nigerian influencer to clean up its dirty money, how cryptocurrency theft has supercharged its cyber operations and how the U.S. government has struggled to clamp down on the DPRK’s use of crypto mixers.



    Geoff White (@geoffwhite247) is an investigative journalist covering technology and organized crime who has worked for the BBC, Channel 4 News, The Sunday Times and other outlets. He is the author of “The Lazarus Heist” about the DPRK’s cybercrime syndicates, and his new book Rinsed on technology and money laundering will be published in June.



    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.

    • 1 hr 7 min
    How dictatorship shapes the politics of the North Korean diaspora – Ep. 334

    How dictatorship shapes the politics of the North Korean diaspora – Ep. 334

    The U.S. and South Korea wrapped up large-scale springtime military drills last week, but not without a response from the DPRK. NK News Managing Editor Bryan Betts (@BryanBetts21) sits down to discuss North Korea’s recent rocket salvo, as well as why state propaganda is keen to show leader Kim Jong Un is not just focused on the military.



    Then, scholar Sheena Chestnut Greitens joins the podcast to talk about the politics of the North Korean diaspora and defectors’ outsized influence on international policy toward the DPRK.



    Chestnut Greitens discusses her research on North Korean communities in not only South Korea but also countries like the U.S. and the U.K., and how defectors who grew up in one of the world’s most repressive authoritarian dictatorships navigate the rights of citizenship in democratic states.



    She also explores how the North Korean state attempts to control the diaspora by preventing people from leaving and dissuading those who have from engaging in political activities.



    Sheena Chestnut Greitens (@SheenaGreitens) is director of the Asia Policy Program at the University of Texas-Austin, a non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment and a visiting professor at the U.S. Army War College. Her latest book is “Politics of the North Korean Diaspora.”



    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.

    • 1 hr 4 min
    North Korea’s unexpected response to US-ROK military exercises – Ep. 333

    North Korea’s unexpected response to US-ROK military exercises – Ep. 333

    The U.S. and South Korea launched large-scale springtime military exercises to practice “neutralizing” North Korean nuclear threats this month. Pyongyang has called the Freedom Shield exercises between the allies “frantic war drills,” warning that Washington and Seoul will pay a “dear price.” 



    The NK News team sits down in the studio to discuss the annual exercises and Pyongyang's response, as well as the status of North Korea’s social media accounts after it overhauled its inter-Korean policy and Seoul’s decision to dissolve a division responsible for negotiating peace and denuclearization with the DPRK.



    This week’s episode features the following members of the NK News team:



    NK News Founder Chad O’Carroll (@chadocl)

    Lead Correspondent Jeongmin Kim (@jeongminnkim)

    Seoul Correspondent Shreyas Reddy (@shreyas_k_reddy) 



    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.

    • 46 min
    What the UN’s role in North Korea will look like going forward – Ep. 332

    What the UN’s role in North Korea will look like going forward – Ep. 332

    North Korea marked the fifth anniversary of leader Kim Jong Un’s trip to Vietnam by highlighting relations between Pyongyang and Hanoi, while making no mention of Kim’s failed summit with former U.S. President Donald Trump during the same visit.



    NK News news trainee Joe Smith (@nkjoesmith) discusses the snub, the DPRK’s failure to pay its contribution to the U.N. budget and more. 



    Then, Frode Mauring (@Frode_Mauring), the former U.N. resident coordinator to the DPRK, joins the podcast to discuss his brief time in North Korea before the country shuttered its borders in response to the outbreak of COVID-19. 



    He describes how his role took on a new form as he worked from Bangkok, engaging North Korean diplomats stationed in Thailand and Pyongyang’s prioritization of certain goods after imposing border controls. Mauring also talks about his newly appointed successor and what challenges he may face going forward. 



    Frode Mauring is a Norwegian national who has worked with the U.N. since 2002. He previously served as the U.N. resident coordinator to the Russian Federation, North Macedonia, Kosovo and the United Arab Emirates. Before joining the U.N., he worked for almost 20 years in the private sector in banking and consulting.



    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.

    • 57 min
    How a ‘new Cold War’ is making North Korea more risk-averse – Ep. 331

    How a ‘new Cold War’ is making North Korea more risk-averse – Ep. 331

    A German delegation traveled to North Korea this week to inspect the condition of the country’s embassy in Pyongyang, in what appears to be the first visit by European staff in some four years. 



    NK News Seoul Correspondent Ifang Bremer (@IfangBremer) discusses what this could mean for a broader DPRK border reopening and the return of international aid agencies, as well as the five-year anniversary of the failed Hanoi Summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.



    Then, Professor Ruediger Frank joins the podcast to talk about how the DPRK has reassessed risk amid the emergence of a “new Cold War” and how this has driven its recent closure of embassies in several countries. He also discusses Pyongyang’s relationship with Beijing and Moscow and why he believes Kim Jong Un has not actually given up on reunification despite the DPRK’s recent revision of its inter-Korean policy.



    Dr. Ruediger Frank (@Ruediger Frank) is a professor of East Asian economy and society at the University of Vienna, where he heads the Department of East Asian Studies. He spent one semester as a language student at Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang in 1991/1992. He holds a master’s degree in Korean studies and international relations and a Ph.D. in economics.



    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.

    • 1 hr 11 min
    What Kim Jong Un’s appearances can tell us about the DPRK regime – Ep. 330

    What Kim Jong Un’s appearances can tell us about the DPRK regime – Ep. 330

    Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korea’s leader, raised the possibility of engagement between Pyongyang and Tokyo last week but caveated that this is her “personal” view.



    NK News Lead Correspondent Jeongmin Kim (@jeongminnkim) dissects Kim Yo Jong’s statement, as well as a proposal from South Korea’s unification ministry to take DNA samples from suspected North Koreans who wash up dead on ROK shores to identify them in the future.



    Then, researcher and NK Pro contributor Martin Weiser sits down in the studio to discuss North Korea’s new line on reunification, election reform in the DPRK and what state media’s portrayal of Kim Jong Un’s daughter could mean for her future.



    He also talks about the difficult process of tracking the North Korean leadership and how changes in officials’ ranks can provide clues about how the regime works.



    Martin Weiser (@NKResearcher) received his master's degree from Korea University in 2014 with a thesis on North Korea’s changing human rights policy. He has since continued researching DPRK political history, and his writing has appeared in SinoNK, the European Journal of Korean Studies and NK Pro.



    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.

    • 1 hr 3 min

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Amirul Iman Anuar ,

A good and verified source about North Korea

NK News is a good and verified source about North Korea. You can find a lot of informations about North Korea. Its a very useful for anyone enthuasist with North Korea.

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