Hundreds of runners took to the streets of Pyongyang as North Korea hosted its premier international marathon race for the first time in six years on Sunday.  NK News Senior Analytic Correspondent Colin Zwirko joins the podcast to discuss what this means for the future of tourism in the country as the event marked the […]

Hundreds of runners took to the streets of Pyongyang as North Korea hosted its premier international marathon race for the first time in six years on Sunday.  - NK News Senior Analytic Correspondent Colin Zwirko joins the podcast to discuss what this ...

Hundreds of runners took to the streets of Pyongyang as North Korea hosted its premier international marathon race for the first time in six years <a href="https://www.nknews.org/2025/04/pyongyang-marathon-returns-after-6-year-hiatus-with-hundred-of-foreign-athletes/">on Sunday</a>.  
 
NK News Senior Analytic Correspondent <a href="https://www.nknews.org/?s=colin+zwirko&amp;sort=&amp;start=01-01-2000&amp;end=08-04-2025">Colin Zwirko</a> joins the podcast to discuss what this means for the future of tourism in the country as the event marked the first time that non-Russian visitors were allowed to visit Pyongyang for leisure since the DPRK shut its borders in Jan. 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  
 
He also discusses how North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was reportedly busy watching <a href="https://www.nknews.org/2025/04/kim-jong-un-oversaw-rok-attack-simulation-as-seoul-announced-yoons-ouster/">military drills</a> simulating an attack on his neighbor to the south as the Constitutional Court announced its decision to uphold the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. 
 
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by <a href="https://www.nknews.org/content_author/jacco-zwetsloot/">Jacco Zwetsloot</a> 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.

Return of the Pyongyang marathon and North Korea’s military drills targeting ROK