North Korea declares COVID victory and lashes out at US-ROK drills – Ep. 252

In August, the U.S. and South Korea carried out large-scale field training exercises for the first time since 2018, while North Korea conducted a missile test for the first time in months. The DPRK declared “victory” over COVID-19 less than three months after reporting its first outbreak. And a South Korean man attacked the high-profile activist and defector Park Sang-hak with a metal pipe at a public event, in what Park claimed was an assault orchestrated by Pyongyang.  This week, the NK News team breaks down these and other significant events from throughout the month. They discuss Pyongyang’s response to the joint U.S.-ROK exercises, Yoon Suk-yeol’s “audacious” plan to denuclearize North Korea, how China’s upcoming party congress could influence the timing of a DPRK nuclear test and more. This week’s episode features Lead Correspondent Jeongmin Kim (@jeongminnkim), Analyst James Fretwell (@JamesFretwe11) and Seoul Correspondent Ifang Bremer (@IfangBremer). 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.