North Korea
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ké cast S2 E5: The Mixed Legacy of the U.S. Military Base in Seoul
The American military is gradually leaving Yongsan, a major garrison located in the heart of Seoul. How are the dynamics of military spatial reorganization playing out beyond the metropolis? In this conversation, Bridget Martin, a contributor to Korea Exposé and a researcher at the University of California at Berkley joins
North Korea Reporting: Riddled With Errors, Even in Neighboring South Korea
It was a riveting story. On Aug 29, 2013, South Korea’s biggest newspaper Chosun Ilbo ran what it claimed was an exclusive: Hyon Song-wol, a singer and rumored ex-lover of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, had been executed for starring in and selling pornographic videos. That report went viral,
The Singapore Summit Gives Hope that Peace Is Still Possible
It was truly a historic day, no doubt about that. North Korea and the United States held their first-ever summit on Jun. 12 in Singapore. On the agenda: denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Despite some skeptics calling it just a photo-op for Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump, the day ended
One April Morning
Moon Jae-in wore a blue tie for the occasion, the color of the Korean Peninsula on the unification flag. Kim Jong-un stepped over the thin strip of concrete dividing North and South Korea inside the demilitarized zone. Sand on the North Korean side, pebbles in South Korea. He stepped onto
Why I Decline 'North Korean Defector' Interview Requests
Over the past few years, journalists from all sorts of global media have contacted me to get my ‘defector point of view’ on all things North Korean. And the current inter-Korean drama has been yet another occasion. A famous European TV station crew, flying to South Korea for the Apr.
No More Rocket Man?
Kim Jong-un is stepping onto South Korean soil tomorrow morning, the first ever for a North Korean leader. Moon Jae-in and Kim will most likely talk about some form of peace…but what will come afterwards?
Tunnel Vision: A View from South Korea's Right Wing
“Have you heard about the North Korean tunnels?” a friend asked me one day in 2014. There was panic in her voice. “They’ve dug dozens of them, everywhere under Seoul. Under the Blue House [the presidential office], under Gangnam, right up to the walls of underground car parks, just
Meet North Korea’s Former Elite Journalist
Kim Gil-sun is an ex-journalist from Pyongyang. She worked for 17 years at the publishing arm of the Academy of National Defense Science, which is in charge of its missile program. For nearly two decades before defecting in the late 1990s, Kim had close contact with the confidential sectors within
Watching North Koreans Watch South Koreans
I still remember the death of the previous North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in December 2011, for the simple reason that media outlets played ad nauseum footage, procured from North Korea’s state news agency KCNA, of Pyongyang citizens weeping with abandon. It seemed as though North Koreans were so
Dark Tour: Jeju Island Beyond Teddy Bear Museums
Jeju Island is where South Koreans love to get away from it all. Hundreds of flights a day deposit mainlanders hungry for escape, relaxation and selfies. With its sea-locked isolation, black soil and relentless wind, Jeju feels almost like a different country altogether. So it’s hard to believe that
North Korea Summit 101
For those of you who haven’t been following the news, Kim Jong-un has been coming out of the Peninsula. Recently he met China’s Xi Jinping. Next on his platter are the presidents of South Korea and the U.S. Here is our introduction about the basics
Se-Woong Koo: On U.S.-North Korea talks for Al Jazeera
Donald Trump accepted Kim Jong-un’s invitation for talks, and agreed to meet by May. Korea Exposé publisher Se-Woong Koo commented on the surprising turn of events. “People are amazed on the ground at just how fast everything has been moving forward,” he said on Al