North Korea’s attack drill, Wonsan Kalma slowdown and Google’s blurry maps

This week, NK News Senior Analytical Correspondent Colin Zwirko joins the podcast to break down North Korea’s latest missile drill, which combined ballistic missiles, 600mm multiple rocket launchers, cruise missiles and attack drones in a coordinated strike on a single target. Colin explains what the exercise reveals about Pyongyang’s growing ability to integrate different weapons systems, why North Korea may be testing South Korea’s detection capabilities and what satellite imagery tells us about where the missiles were launched and how far they traveled.

The conversation then turns to the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area, where satellite imagery suggests North Korea has wrapped up another summer season. Colin discusses why the massive resort appears to operate at peak capacity for only around 50 days each year, how access is being used as a reward for high-performing workers and what the limited number of foreign visitors means for a project originally expected to generate tourism revenue.

Finally, Colin explains why Google Maps and Google Earth have begun obscuring satellite imagery of South Korean military bases and the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone. He discusses what the change means for journalists and open-source researchers, how it could complicate efforts to track military activity and why selectively blurring sensitive sites may inadvertently reveal which locations Seoul considers most important.

About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Alannah Hill 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.