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Artwork for North Korea News Podcast by NK News

North Korea News Podcast by NK News

NK News
North Korea
South Korea
Russia
Kim Jong Un
Ukraine
China
Korean Peninsula
United States
Kim Jong-Un
Lee Jae-Myung
Nuclear Weapons
North Korean Defectors
Korean War
Donald Trump
Unification
Demilitarized Zone
North Korean Human Rights
Kim Il-Sung
International Relations
Inter-Korean Relations

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. The full podcast is available to NK News subscribers.Sign up today at NK News

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Artwork for North Korea News Podcast by NK News

Latest Episodes

Former U.N. official Jerome Sauvage joins this week’s podcast to discuss his new book, Witness to North Korea: Three Years on the Ground in the DPRK, which recounts his posting in Pyongyang from late 2009 to early 2013. He explains why he accepted on... more

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NK News Correspondent Joon Ha Park joins this week’s podcast to discuss Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s claim that Russia has requested another 30,000 North Korean troops for its war against Ukraine. He explains how realistic a deployment of... more

YouTube

This month, Dr. Rüdiger Frank joins North Korea Unpacked with Jacco Zwetsloot to discuss how decades of marketization have transformed North Korea’s economy and society, and why old assumptions about engagement and pressure may no longer apply. He ta... more

YouTube

This week, the NK News Podcast presents a special episode on one of the most unlikely stories in World Cup history: North Korea’s extraordinary run at the 1966 tournament and the English town that embraced the team as its own. Sixty years after the D... more

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Recent Guests

Rudiger Frank
Professor of East Asian Economy and Society at the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
Episode: Rudiger Frank on North Korea’s hidden middle class: North Korea Unpacked
Nicholas Bonner
Founder of Koryo Tours; associated with The Game of Their Lives
Koryo Tours
Episode: North Korea’s World Cup miracle and the town that kept the memory alive
Daniel Gordon
Producer/Director of The Game of Their Lives
Documentary Filmmaker
Episode: North Korea’s World Cup miracle and the town that kept the memory alive
Tosh Warwick
Research associate at the University of Sheffield; wrote about Mildesborough and the 1966 World Cup
University of Sheffield
Episode: North Korea’s World Cup miracle and the town that kept the memory alive
Susan Thornton
Retired senior US diplomat; former acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Yale Law School's Paul Tsai China Center; National Committee on American Foreign Policy; Brookings
Episode: North Korea’s closer ties with China, Russia — and what Washington can do
Gabriela Bernal
Analyst for NK Pro, non-resident fellow at the European Center for North Korean Studies
NK Pro / European Center for North Korean Studies
Episode: North Korea’s new destroyers, China border trade and Seoul’s coexistence dilemma
Joon Ha Park
Korea Risk Group correspondent
Korea Risk Group
Episode: Destroyer deployment, missile tests, drone warfare and North Korea’s near misses
Jieun Baek
Author of Privileged But Powerless, expert on North Korea's elites
Independent scholar/author
Episode: Ambassador recall, remote work scams and the lives of North Korea’s elites
Brian Davis
Retired US Army Colonel with extensive intelligence and North Korea experience
Episode: Brian Davis on how the US military collects intel: North Korea Unpacked

Hosts

Jacco Zwetsloot
Host of NK News Podcast; in-depth interviewer with long tenure covering North Korea; NK News contributor
Alannah Hill
Host of NK News Podcast; leads conversations with experts and conducts major interviews

Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars from 590 ratings
  • Jacko is the Best

    This show is unique and the host is excellent at getting fascinating guests and interviewing them. I have learned so much about the DPRK. Love the roundtable of reporters also.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Cesare Beccaria
    United Statesa year ago
  • Jeongmin Kim is fantastic

    The entire podcast is great, but Jeongmin Kim really stands out when she’s on. She is very well spoken and fantastic at explaining things and providing commentary. She would make a great lead host for the podcast.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    amelialanb
    United States2 years ago
  • Backseat “Journalists”

    Who talk about reports, which are none. Pretty ridiculous stories and conclusions.

    Apple Podcasts
    1
    nickhjj
    Germany2 years ago
  • I'm always a fan of Kim Jong Un and North Korea -- there is no other credentialed leader of our time.

    Podchaser
    5
    Tara Ray
    2 years ago
  • Such good info, room for sound quality improvement

    I love this show. I’m a lay person who is interested in North Korea and I listen to this show start to finish every week. So well done and a good mix of wonky stuff with super accessible info.

    But can we get Jacko a good mic for when he’s doing interviews from home? They’re not that spendy and the sound quality is so bad when he does interviews outside the studio.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Boo 5769
    United States2 years ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Regular, long-form format suits enthusiasts of North Korea policy and history.
Riveting, expert-level discussions with first-hand sources and credible guests.
Some negativity around sound quality and the need for more defectors' stories.
Listeners praise the host for guiding deep-dive conversations with clear, accessible questions.
High production quality and thorough, thoughtful analysis.

Top Society & Culture Podcasts

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Rudiger Frank on North Korea’s hidden middle class: North Korea Unpacked
Q: What is the most important lesson observers should take from decades of engagement and sanctions?
The lesson is not that engagement or pressure failed; rather, North Korea's economy and society function very differently, and the middle class emerged through monetization, making future reforms and external cooperation more likely as the regime recognizes the need for outside inputs.
Ambassador recall, remote work scams and the lives of North Korea’s elites
Q: What does the recall of the ambassador to the UK tell us about North Korea's diplomatic vulnerabilities?
It reveals that even long-standing relationships can be strained by sanctions and that Pyongyang uses high-profile cases like Songdowon to send a message about red lines, while keeping channels open through backdoor diplomacy and back-channel communications.
Borders, nukes and welfare: Inside North Korea’s purported constitution
Q: What does this imply for South Korea's constitutional posture and diplomacy?
It creates a political and legal context in which South Korea's unification-oriented framework looks increasingly anachronistic and may compel Seoul to reassess its own constitutional and security posture; the document seems to dial down hostility in some readings, yet the vagueness allows room for future escalation or reconciliation depending on how Pyongyang leverages the text.
Borders, nukes and welfare: Inside North Korea’s purported constitution
Q: How does the document's treatment of nuclear command differ from prior doctrine?
It keeps the delegation mechanism but frames it within constitutional language, reinforcing a command-and-control structure that could enable a different leadership to push the button while maintaining Kim Jong Un's leadership as the overarching authority.
Borders, nukes and welfare: Inside North Korea’s purported constitution
Q: Jeongmin, what's stood out to you the most about the territorial language in the constitution?
The top line is the removal of explicit unification language and the introduction of a territorial clause that treats borders as the defining feature, with the North framing the border as facing China and Russia in the north and the South as a separate, non-unified state to the south.

Audience Metrics

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Frequently Asked Questions About North Korea News Podcast by NK News

What is North Korea News Podcast by NK News about and what kind of topics does it cover?

This show targets listeners who want in-depth, evidence-based analysis of the Korean Peninsula, with a mix of long-form interviews and timely news rundowns. Episodes commonly explore North Korea's leadership, economy, diplomacy, security, and regional dynamics, often tying internal developments to international responses from the US, allies, and rivals. The program stands out for its rigorous sourcing, high-caliber guests—including academics, former diplomats, researchers, and reporters—and a steady stream of context-rich insights that go beyond surface-level headlines. Its strong emphasis on current events, historical context, and policy implications makes it particularly valuable for professionals in policy, journalism, and international ... more

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1. The Impossible State
2. KOREA PRO Podcast
3. ChinaPower
4. Asia Geopolitics
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North Korea News Podcast by NK News launched 8 years ago and published 300 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on North Korea News Podcast by NK News?

Recent guests on North Korea News Podcast by NK News include:

1. Rudiger Frank
2. Nicholas Bonner
3. Daniel Gordon
4. Tosh Warwick
5. Susan Thornton
6. Gabriela Bernal
7. Joon Ha Park
8. Jieun Baek

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