North Korea: Kim Jong Un’s journey to the edge

This Is Not A Drill with Gavin Esler

Podmasters

News, Society & Culture, Politics

4.9 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 7 February 2024

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Could the belligerence of North Korea – enigma, dynastic dictatorship, nuclear-armed regional menace – be coming to a violent head? Leader Kim Jong Un has torn up his country’s long-cherished goal of reunifying with the South; is ordering provocative missile launches; and ratcheting up tensions with the United States. Could he take the final step into war? Gavin Esler talks to DPRK expert and nuclear analyst Rachel Minyoung Lee and Seoul-based journalist and NKnews.org founder Chad O’Carroll about the road to North Korea’s new aggression, its increasingly cosy relationships with Putin and China… and what Kim really wants. • “In a crowded field of human rights abusers, North Korea is regarded as the worst.” – Gavin Esler • “Times could not be better for North Korea… Ukraine showed them that the US will not engage another nuclear power on the battlefield.” – Rachel Minyoung Lee • “Korea is the ultimate dictatorship. It learned from the fall of socialism and other totalitarian systems how to deal with that risk.” – Chad O’Carroll Support This Is Not A Drill on Patreon to get early episodes, merchandise and more. When you buy books through our affiliate links you’re helping This Is Not A Drill by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	North Korea is a nuclear power but also a mystery and to most of its neighbors a menace.
0:17.0	The regime of its dictator Kim Jong-un is again flexing its muscles firing missiles towards the territory of South Korea,
0:25.0	a key American ally and home to the biggest US military base on foreign soil.
0:30.0	More than 70 years after the formal end of the Korean War, how dangerous
0:35.9	could North Korea really become and what does the Supreme Leader want from
0:40.5	his brinkmanship? I'm Gavin Euler. This is not a dream. Oh, yeah. In a crowded field of human rights abusers, North Korea is regarded as the world's worst and also the world's most closed society.
1:16.0	The Pyongyang regime has few friends but it does have an estimated 50 nuclear warheads
1:22.0	plus enough material to make as many more.
1:25.0	Despite longstanding economic failures, including failure to feed its own population,
1:30.0	North Korea is again ratcheting up the tension with the other side of the 38th parallel and America's ally, South Korea.
1:38.0	President Kim Jong-un, the third generation of North Korea's dynastic dictators has turned his back on a long-standing
1:46.3	regime policy of eventual Korean reunification and ordered the firing of crews missiles and artillery shells towards a South Korean island.
1:55.5	As usual with North Korea there are more questions than answers.
1:58.5	Why now? What next? And is war really unthinkable? A recent report by North Korea experts Robert
2:05.6	Carlin and Siegfried Hecker via the 38 North program at the International Affairs
2:10.2	Think Tank, the Stimson Center, made headlines this January by warning of that unthinkable
2:16.1	risk.
2:17.1	Later in the episode we'll hear from Korea expert Chad O' Carroll on the context behind
2:21.2	Kim Jong-un's own approach to securing his regime and wit at the family dynasty.
2:26.8	But first a reminder that you can support our work, bringing you the news behind the global headlines
2:31.6	by backing us via Patreon.
2:33.2	For as little as £3 a month you'll get access to our weekly episodes early and
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