North Korea News Podcast by NK News - Seoul floats scaling back US-ROK drills, and proposes talks with North Korea

Episode Date: November 25, 2025

This week, NK News correspondent Joon Ha Park joins the podcast to recap a week’s worth of news from Seoul and Pyongyang, starting with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s comments about potentially scaling back joint military exercises with the U.S. to support diplomacy with North Korea. He talks about how previous progressive governments, such as […]

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I'm your host, Jack O'S Whetlet, and today it is Tuesday, the 25th of November 2025, and I'm joined here in the studio by Junha Park. Junha, welcome back on the show. Thank you for having me. And let's start with a story that I know absolutely nothing about, which is President I Jem Yong last night said some things about live fire exercises. Right. So President I Jem Yong, he floated the possibility that South Korea could scale back

or postpone joint military exercises with the United States. Now, which exercises are these are these the winter ones or next year's spring ones or across the board? That was not clarified. So he made clear that this would only happen as part of sort of broader long-term efforts to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula. so not a unilateral concession. I think it's worth pointing out here just for the sake of our listeners who may not know that when there is a live fire exercise, it's not close enough to the border that North Korea

can see, hear or feel those exercises. They only know that take place because the South Korean media reports them. Yeah, so the Joint Chiefs of Staff and also the Army branch or the military branch that is involved usually notifies the border residents of the live fire drills. But of course, Lee was stressing not only about live fire drills, but also just joint drills on the format. So even just tabletop exercises. So he stressed that North Korea is extremely sensitive to such joint drills, and that any changes must be considered carefully. Okay.

How can you be sensitive to something you don't know is going on unless you're told? Well, you know, there have been, I think he's building off the comments from the Unification Minister Zhang Dongyong, who has suggested reviewing the scale or timing of the drills. similar to what happened during the Moon administration when peace talks were going on with the United States and North Korea and also South Korea. So he made a bigger point,

so he said that a fully established peace regime between the two Koreas, a genuine Pyonga Chege, that's what he meant, a peace regime, is what would make halting exercises possible or even preferable. So he said that scaling down exercises could result from progress toward peace or it could help create momentum for peace.

But he said it's too early to say which path is realistic right now. Okay, but even countries, that live side by side and peace with one another have militaries that do exercises because otherwise what do you do with the military? You've got to keep them trained and ready to go. Right. So I think they're, again,

I think they're just building off from what the Moon administration did in 2018. So after the Trump Kim-Singapore Summit, the Moon administration, they postponed or reduced major drills. So the key resolve drill and the full Eagle drill were cancelled. The Ulci Freedom Guardian, which it was called then, was scaled down to a computer simulation. So a large field training exercise is also halted under the September 19, 2018, Inter-Korean CMA, the Comprehensive Military Agreement,

and outdoor drills were limited to battalion size. So we can see here that the Moon administration was still trying to allay the concern to North Korea saying that, okay, these joint exercises are toned down a little, a little. But in in 2022, the UN administration came in, and then they restored the large-scale training under the name Ulci Freedom Shield, which we're quite familiar with now. So under I Jiamyang, currently the joint drills with the United States have continued.

We've seen iterations of the Ulci Freedom Shield. We've seen iterations of the trilateral military exercises in the East Sea and off the coast of Jeju Island. So these are things that will still stay in motion. This is not an immediate thing, but it is the first time that Li Jiameng has floated the idea and has fallen in line with his unification minister. Has North Korea in the last few years announced a scaling down or scaling back or suspension of its own military exercises?

Okay, that's worth bearing in mind. If anyone from the Ministry of Unification is listening, please encourage your minister Jong Dong Yong to come and talk to me on the NKin News podcast. I'd love to have them on the show. Thank you very much. All right, now, speaking of military-related stories, I understand that there was some kind of an armistice violation in the demilitarized zone in recent days. Right, so the South Korean military said it responded to a North Korean violation. of the Armistist Agreement inside the DMZ. This came after reports of an intrusion

last Thursday, November 20th. An intrusion? Okay. So the Rock Joint Chiefs of Staff, they confirmed to us that North Korean troops committed a violation inside the DMZ. Rock forces took action in accordance with prescribed procedures.

How many North Korean troops? Right, so that was not specified, so they did not say when it happened or what exact activity triggered the response. So South Korean outlets, on the other hand, they're reporting a bit of a clearer picture than the Joint Chiefs of Staff are giving. So this is also all reportedly. But several North Korean soldiers unidentified and also unidentified numbers, they were working

on construction projects inside the DMZ, apparently, who apparently crossed the military demarcation line, the MDL. Which is halfway, I mean, it's two kilometers in. So you've got to go quite a way into the demilitar zone before you cross the MDL. Indeed. So the rock troops, they issued verbal warnings. then they fired warning shots, after which the North Korean soldiers retreated back to their line. Seoul's defense ministry, of course, declined to confirm these details,

which is quite fairly typical in sensitive DMZ incidents. Okay, so do we have any idea how often such things happen? Right, so South Korea's report of the North Korean DMZ violation, it comes after Pyongyang has yet to answer Seoul's first request in seven years for direct military talks to address these rising border disputes, and also these repeated incursions. So Seoul says repeated incursions are being fueled by the loss of decades-old MDL markers from the Korean War, leading the two sides to hold different views of the boundary.

And seeing as that, as a result, you'll have minimal incursions coming in from the North Korean side. I think they said about 10 last year up to this year. So the talks request follow, I think, more than a year after North Korean construction along the border, including anti-tank walls and several fatal mine-related accidents in the north, according to the JCS. So the defense ministry says these border breaches have already exceeded last year's total, though Seoul still views them as largely inadvertent. Okay, well, yeah, I hope they get together and sort that issue out. You don't want to have incursions in the demilitarized zone.

Just as a matter of information here, if a North Korean soldier is defecting across the demilitar zone, how do the South Koreans know the difference? Well, we've seen in multiple cases where South Korean soldiers or border troops that try to woo the soldier to the South Korean side of the border, you know, it's something that if a single soldier is floating somewhere in the East Sea or in the West Sea, I don't think that that's the same level of border incursion that you would see in the MDO when a North Korean soldier is participating in construction activity. Okay, well, yeah, that one is interesting. Let's keep an eye on that. I understand that Kim Jong-un went to open a modern hospital, military hospital specifically. Right. So North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, he attended the inauguration of the Gangdong County Hospital on November 19th. State media called at the first modern health facility outside Pyongyang. So he used the event to sort of reaffirm this long-term plan to build 20 hospitals per year starting in 2026.

Hold on. Let's just let that sit for a moment. There are 20 hospitals a year between now, And 2026, starting in 2026. Okay. Yeah, yeah. But that's, I mean, there's a lot of ambitious plans, but 20 hospitals a year is extremely ambitious. It's almost in fantasy land. I mean, it is, it is something that's part of, it's both building on from his broader regional development 2010 policy. So he's emphasized that modernizing public health is critical for the country's long term development and a bright future for North Korea socialist state, according to social media. According to North Korean state, Yes. So how does this new hospital compare, for example, in scale to the brand-new general hospital that was opened in Pyongyang recently? Right. So the Gangdong County Hospital, it hosts numerous military facilities, so including weapons and munitions factories.

Not the hospital, but Kangong County. The county area. So the hospital alongside a nearby ledger complex could serve as both a sort of reward and practical support for military workers, including the hospital. those involved in nearby live fire drills, so photos from state media, it shows that the facility has foreign-sourced X-ray and CT equipment, though interiors appear not fully operational yet, so it may take time before patients are admitted. So we saw from some trade data that was analyzed by our colleague, Anton Soklin. Shout out to Anton. Yeah, that said that North Korea

exported over $150,000 worth of sanctioned iron and seafood products to China in October, while also bringing in more medical tech like x-rays and CT machines ahead of these recent hospital openings. Yeah, this is a great story on NKPro titled North Korea imported x-ray CT machines from China ahead of hospital openings, a very, very comprehensive look into import and export data. Yeah. As Juno said, analyzed by our colleague Anton Sokolin. Interesting. So I saw that hair imports are up into North Korea and wig exports are up.

So they're getting raw hair from somewhere. right, presumably human hair, making that into wigs and then exporting that. That's sort of one of the top items of things exported to China. A lot of sports and gaming equipment, $36,131 U.S. dollars worth of playing cards. Yes, that's correct. Now, you can go down to the local convenience store and buy a pack of playing cards for a couple of thousand ones. So imagine how many packs you're buying with 36,131, right? That's a lot of...

Indeed. running machines, all kinds of equipment for billiard. Billiard tables, billiard balls, billiard queues, ice skates. It looks like North Korea is going through some sort of a sports revolution. So, yeah, I mean, it does carry on from what North Korea and Kim Jong-un just wants to make it a sporting powerhouse, including its recent victories and the Women's Under 17 World Cup. But, of course, these also just going back to the county. Hospital, you know, North Green leader Kim Jong-un, he's had these photos that were released

of the facility's interior and the diagnostic equipment like x-rays and CT machines. So what we've seen from the trade data, we can see definitely being translated into the real world. And what we also see in the trade data is that things are being imported and exported that are specifically prohibited under United Nations Security Council Resolution sanctions, right? So there are things like, for example, importing goods considered luxury goods, so that includes a lot of sports equipment and entertainment equipment like Norebang machines or karaoke machines. Certain exports are banned from North Korea like iron, steel, seafood under UNSCR 2371. So these are issues related to sanctions here, as well as interesting data in and of themselves.

A lot of fabric has been imported into North Korea. for clothes manufacturing? I'm just looking at this article, and I can't see whether fabric, I think fabric's not a sanctioned. I can't imagine that it would be. No. Unless it's a, you know,

something from a Chanel factory or something. Absolutely. But CT machines and medical equipment, such as imported into this newly open hospital in Kangdong. Also, we've got imports of medical supplies, antibiotics, packaged medicines, vitamins and blood fractions. So these are quite,

Very interesting data from the, mainly data obtained from the Chinese general administrations of customs. And of course, since North Korea doesn't publish data of its own, all we have to operate on is information from outside like this. Indeed. Okay. And, oh yes, a final story. North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un went to visit his friends, his guards, his defenders, over at the Ministry of State Security, the Boi Song, formerly called the Boi Bu. Right. So he visited the headquarters of the secret police, the ordinary police, the Supreme Court, and Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office. That was last Tuesday. And state media marks the visit as the 80th anniversaries of these organizations. So Kim emphasized that these agencies serve as the party's political guard according to state media, defending his absolute rule and the socialist system. So just going into the Ministry of State Security, the MSS, it is North Korea. secret police. It's responsible for eliminating political and ideological opposition,

running the political prison camps and censoring media and society, and also managing border control and passports. Right, border control. So we assume, for example, that when there are agents of the North Korean government that say, we would like to open the borders and welcome more foreign tourists, the agency that sometimes steps in and says, no, we're not going to do that, that's the MSS, the Ministry of State Security. So just carrying on, so the MS. So the MSS is quite highly secretive. So the state media rarely reports on its internal operations, of course. The General Border Guards Bureau, part of the MSS, was recently highlighted in military parades with new uniforms.

So during the visit, Kim was praising the MSS for defending the Workers' Party from hostile forces. He called the agency a reliable companion and trustworthy assistance of the party. Right. I mean, they keep him in power. Now, right next door to the MSS is the Ministry of Public Security, which is there a equivalent of the police agency, used to be called the Saway Anjonbu. Yeah, so it is effectively an ordinary police. So it enforces laws and criminal codes, as you would expect from any police force, operates prisons, re-education centers, the kiosho, and also manages some riot

squad. Right, some of those riot police we saw in recent parades. Yeah, so you've kind of noticed these recent reforms as like new riot and SWAT units, national project to rebuild or expand prisons. So both MSS and MPS, they enforce political and ideological rules with some overlap. So state media emphasizes loyalty to Kim and ideological indoctrination, so class education, but also Kim visited the newly built Supreme Headquarters and Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office as well. And he said the judges and prosecutors should work in line with these police units and these security units and defend the state and people with the sacred. legal right granted with the party. So both offices, the Supreme Court headquarters and the

Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office, they were renamed in January 2025, and the visits mostly involved outdoor ceremonies and photo ops with sort of red congratulations folders presented to leaders. And in this story written about what we're talking about, Kim Jong-un praises secret police for defending his rule during visit to HQ, written by Collins Worker, several times is mentioned the idea of class and class struggle and the red the red sword of the class revolution and class education. So that's still very much at the heart of North Korea's ideology and indoctrination. And often class education, as pointed out by Colin, it's linked to indoctrination against specifically the United States and South Korea and other sort of cultural influence, right?

Yeah, so, you know, these visits are, you know, quite ceremonial. They're as much sort of political theater as you would expect than substantive oversight. So it's emphasizing Kim's absolute control over these North Korean offices and these sort of echelons of the legal format there. So they reinforce the message that security and judicial organs exist for us to protect the regime, not the population, and also the sort of red sword of the class-based ideological system that you just mentioned.

The events also coincide. with a much more broader effort to tighten social control and ideological adherence, particularly among youth and officials related to the influx of South Korean media, South Korean influence, and South Korean K-pop. We've seen that being a priority in the last couple of years. Well, thank you very much, Junha Park, for coming on the show once again

and walking us through these most recent stories. We look forward to having you on the show again soon. Thank you. Navigating the dynamics of the Korean Peninsula requires more than just information. It demands insight. Career Risk Group offers strategic consulting that cuts through the noise. Our experts provide in-depth analysis, risk assessments and bespoke reports, all tailored to your specific needs.

Whether you're exploring new opportunities or managing existing challenges, our insights can be your compass. To learn more about how we can help you make informed strategic decisions, visit careerrisk.com slash solutions today. Ladies and gentlemen, that brings us to the end of our podcast episode for today. Our thanks go to Brian Betts and Alana Hill for facilitating this episode and to our post-recording producer genius Gabby Magnuson who cuts out all the extraneous noises, awkward silences, bodily functions and fixes the audio levels.

Thank you and listen again next time.