North Korean state media coverage of the first international marathon in Pyongyang since 2019 underscored ongoing inconsistencies in how state propaganda mythologizes Kim ll Sung, changing the name of the event to remove reference to the founding leader’s birthplace Mangyongdae. NK News founder and CEO Chad O’Carroll joins the podcast to discuss the ideological tensions […]

North Korean state media coverage of the first international marathon in Pyongyang since 2019 underscored ongoing inconsistencies in how state propaganda mythologizes Kim ll Sung, changing the name of the event to remove reference to the founding leade...

North Korean state media coverage of the first international marathon in Pyongyang since 2019 underscored ongoing inconsistencies in how state propaganda mythologizes Kim ll Sung, changing the name of the event to remove reference to the founding leader’s birthplace Mangyongdae. 
 
NK News founder and CEO Chad O’Carroll joins the podcast to discuss the ideological tensions surrounding the event’s <a href="https://www.nknews.org/pro/north-korea-changes-name-of-pyongyang-marathon-to-omit-reference-to-kim-il-sung/">new name</a> and how it relates to trends that started last year. 
 
He also discusses the recent death of one of the most extraordinary North Koreans to ever cross the inter-Korean border — <a href="https://www.nknews.org/2025/04/kim-shin-jo-north-korean-commando-sent-to-kill-souths-president-dies-at-83/">Kim Shin-jo</a> — as well as the <a href="https://www.nknews.org/2025/04/cuts-to-us-funded-broadcasters-risk-silencing-key-sources-for-north-korea/">future</a> of efforts by Voice of America and Radio Free Asia to broadcast uncensored information into the DPRK following budget cuts by the Trump administration. 
 
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.

The Pyongyang marathon’s new name, and the death of a North Korean commando