North Korea’s warship troubles, Shangri-La and Lee Jae-myung on cusp of victory

North Korea’s new warship remains submerged on its side more than 10 days after the embarrassing failure to side-launch the vessel last month, despite DPRK experts’ confidence that they could right the ship. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made only a passing mention of North Korea at the Shangri-La Dialogue over the weekend, even as officials talked behind the scenes about wanting U.S. Forces Korea to play a bigger role in countering China. And Lee Jae-myung appears poised to claim the South Korean presidency in Tuesday’s snap election, setting up potential changes in inter-Korean policy. This week, NK News CEO Chad O’Caroll and Lead Correspondent Shreyas Reddy join the podcast to discuss all these events during a busy week on the peninsula, as the ROK prepares to finally fill a monthslong leadership vacuum since Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated declaration of martial law and subsequent impeachment. They also talk about why North Korea will likely do little in response to a new president in Seoul and explore why Kim Jong Un should worry about Ukrainian drones following Kyiv’s stunning attack on Russian assets far from the front lines. About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot 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.