On this June 2024 episode of his popular podcast History Hit, Dan Snow speaks to American journalist Jean Lee, former chief of the AP bureau in Pyongyang, North Korea, who shares an insider's perspective on life under the Kim dynasty.

What is life really like under one of the world's most secretive and authoritarian regimes?

With closed borders, widespread poverty, and little contact with the rest of the world, North Korea can be a brutal place for its citizens, who are expected to worship the ruling Kim dynasty almost as mythological beings.

This June 2024 episode of Dan Snow's History Hit features journalist Jean Lee. In 2012, Lee became chief of the Associated Press', the first American media outlet to have a full-time presence in North Korea.

Lee shares her experiences of living in North Korea and her perspective on the history of the Korean peninsula and the rule of the Kim family.