Yong Ja Hong: How sports and athletics play into North Korean statecraft

Yong Ja Hong, a PhD candidate studying North Korean society, culture and media at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, joins the podcast to discuss the history of sports in North Korea, even before the peninsula was separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. She recalls North Korean athletes who competed on the international stage, including a track star who was briefly reunited with her South Korean father, and sheds light on how modern sports made its way into the peninsula. Hong, an NK News contributor, also talks about how basketball’s popularity took off suddenly throughout the country during Kim Jong Il’s rule and how baseball never found solid footing amongst the people. 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.