North Korea is one of the most closed-off countries, especially to foreign media. But for Jean Lee, the first American news bureau chief in Pyongyang, years of reporting from inside the country have helped her and her audiences better understand the nation. For VOA, Liam Scott has more from Washington in this story narrated by Steve Karesh. VOA footage by Cristina Caicedo Smit and Phillip Datcher.
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October 2024
- Oct 25, 2024 Julie Mason Show: Jean Lee on North Korean Soldiers in Ukraine
- Oct 23, 2024 The World Tonight, BBC Radio 4: US: North Korea sending troops to Russia
- Oct 23, 2024 Newshour, BBC World Service: Jean Lee on North Korea troops in Russia
- Oct 20, 2024 NPR: Understanding the relationship between Russia and North Korea
- August 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
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January 2024
- Jan 31, 2024 Jean Lee on the Julie Mason Show for SiriusXM
- Jan 26, 2024 New York Times: U.S. Is Watching North Korea for Signs of Lethal Military Action
- Jan 17, 2024 Wall Street Journal: Kim Jong Un Has a New Enemy No. 1—and It Isn’t the U.S.
- Jan 9, 2024 Hawaii Public Radio: Journalist who reported from North Korea shares experience
- November 2023
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October 2023
- Oct 10, 2023 Beyond Utopia documentary
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September 2023
- Sep 13, 2023 PBS NewsHour: Concerns grow as Kim Jong Un pledges support for Putin's war in Ukraine
- Sep 12, 2023 NPR Consider This: What Putin and Kim Jong Un Stand to Gain by Meeting
- Sep 12, 2023 NPR All Things Considered: Putin's meeting with Kim Jong Un is about getting weapons and ammunition, experts say
- Sep 11, 2023 CNN's Erin Burnett Out Front: Kim Jong Un heads to Russia
- Sep 4, 2023 CNN: Kim Jong Un may meet with Vladimir Putin in Russia
- Sep 4, 2023 New York Times: Kim Jong-un and Putin Plan to Meet in Russia to Discuss Weapons
- August 2023
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July 2023
- Jul 26, 2023 Voice of America: American Journalist Recalls Life as Reporter Inside North Korea
- Jul 25, 2023 CBC Radio the Current Q&A: Detained American soldiers often used as 'bargaining chips' by North Korea: journalist
- Jul 25, 2023 The Current with Matt Galloway: The fate of a U.S. soldier who ran into North Korea
- June 2023
- April 2023
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March 2023
- Mar 27, 2023 BBC: Outside Source
- Mar 27, 2023 BBC: Global News Podcast
- Mar 17, 2023 BBC: South Korea-Japan summit
- Mar 15, 2023 BBC: The hackers are back: BBC’s The Lazarus Heist returns for season two
- Mar 6, 2023 Sky News Daily: What's going on with Kim Jong Un and his daughter?
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February 2023
- Feb 14, 2023 CNN: New signs Kim Jong Un is placing daughter in line for succession
- Feb 9, 2023 NPR Morning Edition: Kim Jong Un made another rare public appearance alongside his daughter Kim Ju Ae
- Feb 3, 2023 Julie Mason Mornings on Sirius XM: Spy Balloon
- Feb 1, 2023 RealClearDefense podcast Hotwash: North Korea's Cyber-Warriors with Jean Lee
- January 2023
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November 2022
- Nov 2, 2022 BBC World News Impact with Yalda Hakim
- October 2022
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September 2022
- Sep 22, 2022 Julie Mason Mornings on Sirius XM: Jean Lee on North Korea Threat
- Sep 12, 2022 BBC: The Lazarus Heist: Live in New York!
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May 2022
- May 26, 2022 PBS Newshour: North Korea scrambles to contain coronavirus outbreak
- May 25, 2022 Arirang TV: [NEWS IN-DEPTH] N. Korea's latest missile launches prompt allied show of force, condemnation
- May 19, 2022 NPR All Things Considered: North Korea is reporting a major disease outbreak, but it's not calling it COVID
- May 14, 2022 BBC World Service
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April 2022
- Apr 14, 2022 Peabody Awards: 82nd Annual Peabody Nominees Announced
- Apr 14, 2022 ABC: Between the Lines with Tom Switzer
- February 2022
- November 2021
- October 2021
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September 2021
- Sep 14, 2021 Columbia College Today: A Journalist’s Unmatched Access
- Sep 14, 2021 NPR: North Korean Missile Was A 'Cleverly Calculated Test'
- Sep 12, 2021 CNN The Situation Room: Kim Jong un boasts a svelte new look
- Sep 11, 2021 Voice of America: 미 전문가 "김정은, 열병식에서 '건강한 이미지' 연출...김일성 모습도 연상"
- Sep 8, 2021 Al Jazeera's The Stream: Why is North Korea resuming its nuclear programme?
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
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October 2020
- Oct 19, 2020 BBC World Service: How dangerous is North Korea?
- Oct 16, 2020 CJR: Medical Mystery
- Oct 10, 2020 New York Times: North Korea Unveils What Appears to Be New ICBM During Military Parade
- Oct 10, 2020 Washington Post: ‘A Dear Leader approach’: Trump’s critics compare his shows of strength around coronavirus to authoritarian tactics
- Oct 9, 2020 Washington Post: Trump’s dream of a Nobel Peace Prize kept alive by far-flung foreign allies
- Oct 8, 2020 Wall Street Journal: North Korea Loves Military Parades—Will Kim Jong Un Bring Out the Big Guns?
- July 2020
- May 2020
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April 2020
- Apr 28, 2020 Blu Radio: ¿Kim Jong-un está vivo o muerto?
- Apr 27, 2020 Fox Business: If Kim Jong Un is unwell, North Korea will likely go on lockdown to prepare succession plan: Expert
- Apr 27, 2020 NBC Today Show: Where is Kim Jong-un? Speculation intensifies over North Korean leader’s health
- Apr 25, 2020 PBS NewsHour: Where is North Korea’s Kim Jong Un? An expert weighs in
- Apr 25, 2020 New York Times: Where Is Kim Jong-un? How Experts Track North Korea's Leader
- Apr 20, 2020 NPR All Things Considered: U.S. Holds Line On North Korea Sanctions, As U.N. Details How The Country Evades Them
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
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October 2019
- Oct 6, 2019 Wall Street Journal: North Korea says US misleading public over talks progress
- Oct 5, 2019 BBC Newshour: Jean Lee on resumption of working-level US-DPRK talks
- Oct 4, 2019 Washington Post: As nuclear talks resume, some fear Trump has already given Kim what he wanted: A spot on the world stage
- September 2019
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July 2019
- Jul 28, 2019 Washington Talk on Voice of America
- Jul 11, 2019 Quoted in New York Times: Trump’s Asia Gamble: Shatter Enduring Strategies on China and North Korea
- Jul 2, 2019 NBC News: A closer look into Trump and Kim’s relationship
- Jul 2, 2019 Jean Lee on NPR All Things Considered on Donald Trump-Kim Jong Un meeting at DMZ
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
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February 2019
- Feb 28, 2019 New York Times: Trump’s Talks With Kim Jong-un Collapse Over North Korean Sanctions
- Feb 27, 2019 New York Times: Trump Meets Kim Jong-un to Start Summit Talks
- Feb 27, 2019 NPR: What Has Been Accomplished Since The First Trump-Kim Summit?
- Feb 26, 2019 Fox News: Kim Jong Un faces mounting pressure to get sanctions relief for North Korea
- Feb 26, 2019 CNN: Trump Kim summit: What does a win for North Korea look like in Hanoi?
- Feb 11, 2019 PBS documentary: The Dictator's Playbook, Episode 1, Kim Il Sung
- Feb 9, 2019 Discussing the upcoming Trump-Kim summit on VoA's Washington Talk TV show
- Feb 4, 2019 Washington Post: He helped Trump confront North Korea. Now Ji Seong-ho wonders whether human rights will be left behind.
- January 2019
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November 2018
- Nov 22, 2018 National Geographic: Inside North Korea's Dynasty
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
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June 2018
- Jun 13, 2018 Washington Post: Documentary shows Trump saluting North Korean general
- Jun 10, 2018 NPR: What Daily Life In North Korea Looks Like
- Jun 10, 2018 CNN: Analysis: The moment the US treated North Korea "as an equal"
- Jun 6, 2018 Politico: Will Trump stand up for free press in Singapore?
- Jun 6, 2018 CBS News' Face the Nation
- Jun 6, 2018 BBC: Kim Jong-un: The new kid on the diplomatic block
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
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February 2018
- Feb 22, 2018 VICE News Tonight: Binge watching North Korean TV is surreal — and educational
- Feb 21, 2018 VICE News Tonight (HBO): North Korean soap operas
- Feb 19, 2018 CNBC: North Korea is at the Olympics — but North Koreans probably won't get to see much of it
- Feb 13, 2018 Vice News Tonight|HBO on Instagram
- Feb 10, 2018 NPR's All Things Considered: The Political Gamesmanship Behind The 2018 Winter Olympics
- Feb 3, 2018 Fox News: North Korea pushing 'vanity projects' as Olympics near
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January 2018
- Jan 28, 2018 AP: Chloe Kim: California kid heads to South Korea's games
- Jan 25, 2018 SCMP: Lessons for today of USS Pueblo’s 1968 capture by North Korea
- Jan 22, 2018 New York Times: A Few Questions for Our 52 Places Traveler
- Jan 19, 2018 Business Insider: Go inside the North Korean ski field where South Korea will join the North for Winter Olympics training
- Jan 18, 2018 NPR WBUR Here and Now: North Korean Olympic performers 'propaganda coup'
- Jan 13, 2018 BBC World Service: The World This Week
- Jan 10, 2018 ABC The World: North Korea to send athletes to Olympics in South after high-level talks
- Jan 8, 2018 NPR, All Things Considered: North Koreans' Attitudes Of The U.S.
- Jan 8, 2018 Global News: Buy North Korean: the country’s push for more domestic goods on store shelves
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December 2017
- Dec 23, 2017 NBC News: How Kim Jong Un bested Donald Trump in the slugfest that was 2017
- Dec 19, 2017 MPR: Brinkmanship: The U.S. and North Korea
- Dec 18, 2017 BBC Newshour: Inside North Korea's Soap Operas
- Dec 11, 2017 Washington Post: What you can learn from watching North Korean soap operas
- Dec 10, 2017 Korean Kontext: What Can North Korean Soap Operas Tell Us About Kim Jong-un’s Priorities?
- Dec 3, 2017 Global News: How North Korea is using TV sitcoms as state propaganda
- Dec 1, 2017 KEI: Press Release | Soap Operas and Socialism: Dissecting Kim Jong-un’s Evolving Policy Priorities through TV Dramas in North Korea
- November 2017
- October 2017
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September 2017
- Sep 21, 2017 New York Times: Kim Jong-un Called Trump a ‘Dotard.’ What Does That Even Mean?
- Sep 6, 2017 WNYC The Brian Lehrer Show: North Korea Continues to Test Bombs
- Sep 6, 2017 John Batchelor Show: Where in the world is Kim Han Sol?
- Sep 5, 2017 PBS NewsHour: How South Koreans are responding to pressure on North Korea from Trump
- Sep 5, 2017 CNN: N. Korea believed to be moving intercontinental missile, Seoul lawmaker says, by Taehoon Lee and Josh Berlinger
- Sep 4, 2017 CNN: U.S., South Korea to deploy military assets, Sept. 4, 2017
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August 2017
- Aug 30, 2017 BBC NewsHour: Missile Launch a 'prelude' says North Korea, Aug. 30, 2017
- Aug 30, 2017 Foreign Policy: Should You Go to North Korea While You Still Can? By Eric Fish
- Aug 29, 2017 BBC Radio 4 Today on Aug. 29, 2017
- Aug 29, 2017 BBC Radio Scotland: Good Morning Scotland on Aug. 29, 2017
- Aug 25, 2017 CNN International: S. Korean Court to Rule in Samsung Corruption Case
- Aug 25, 2017 C-SPAN: The Rise and Rule of North Korea's Kim Dynasty
- Aug 10, 2017 BBC Newshour: North Korea's Guam Missile Threats
- Aug 7, 2017 Al Jazeera: US, South Korea laud new UN sanctions on Pyongyang
- Aug 7, 2017 CNBC: North Korea sanctions could trigger more missiles and test US-China ties
- July 2017
- April 2017
- February 2017
- May 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
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September 2015
- Sep 5, 2015 KOREAN FOOD MADE SIMPLE WITH JUDY JOO
- July 2015
- May 2015
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March 2015
- Mar 15, 2015 CNN: Beyond the DMZ: Tweeting from North Korea
- February 2015
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January 2015
- Jan 28, 2015 BBC World Service: What Does Kim Jong Un Want?
- Jan 28, 2015 BBC: What does Kim Jong Un Want? Jan. 28, 2015
- Jan 16, 2015 Wilson Center: Jean H. Lee Joins the Wilson Center's NKIDP as a Public Policy Fellow
- Jan 8, 2015 조선일보: [통일이 미래다] "北주민 성취욕·교육열 대단… 희망 봤다"
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April 2014
- Apr 21, 2014 The Guardian: North Korea experts on Twitter
- February 2014
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November 2013
- Nov 19, 2013 Yonhap News: AP 초대 평양지국장 "北 경제 강조는 변화의 신호"
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August 2013
- Aug 13, 2013 FP: Twitterati 100
- July 2013
- April 2013
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March 2013
- Mar 31, 2013 VN Express: Liệu Triều Tiên có hiện thực hóa chiến tranh
- Mar 30, 2013 El Observador: El régimen de la retórica mística
- Mar 30, 2013 Der Westen: Twitter bietet seltene Einblicke in den nordkoreanischen Alltag
- Mar 29, 2013 New Focus Intl: Exclusive: Glimpses Behind-the-Scenes of Dennis Rodman’s Trip to North Korea
- Mar 21, 2013 Le Monde: La Corée du Nord en direct sur Skype
- Mar 13, 2013 Washington Post: A rare glimpse of North Korea’s version of Facebook
- Mar 11, 2013 Austin Chronicle: Social Media in North Korea The AP bureau chief from Pyongyang on cell service, Instagram, etc.
- Mar 11, 2013 Buzzfeed: A Rare Glimpse At North Korea's Tech Culture
- Mar 10, 2013 RTV SLO: Čivkanje iz Severne Koreje in digitalna revolucija
- Mar 1, 2013 Bend Bulletin: Tweeting in North Korea Tweets, pics give real-time peek into North Korea
- Mar 1, 2013 Copy of Bend Bulletin: Tweeting in North Korea Tweets, pics give real-time peek into North Korea
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February 2013
- Feb 28, 2013 AP: @AP views of North Korea via Instagram and the wire
- Feb 28, 2013 Macleans: Jean H. Lee's Instagram from North Korea
- Feb 28, 2013 ABC News: Instagram Opens Lens on North Korea
- Feb 28, 2013 Engadget: Instagram, Twitter posts begin to flow from North Korean 3G network
- Feb 26, 2013 Daily Mail: The first Instagram photos posted from North Korea: Colorful images prove app can make the grimmest of places look beautiful
- Feb 25, 2013 Daily Mail: The First Instagram Pics Taken from Inside North Korea
- Feb 25, 2013 QZ: The mobile web is alive in North Korea as tweets and Instagram photos trickle out
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January 2013
- Jan 13, 2013 VOA: [인터뷰] 존 대너셰프스키 AP 부사장 "올해 본사기자 평양 상주 기대"
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August 2012
- Aug 12, 2012 CJR: The AP’s North Korea bureau
- July 2012
- June 2012
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April 2012
- Apr 11, 2012 KoreAm: Inside North Korea
- Apr 8, 2012 NBC News: A rare peek inside North Korea
- January 2012
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August 2011
- Aug 1, 2011 The Atlantic: Inside North Korea
- June 2011
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