Kathi Zellweger: The life of a humanitarian worker in North Korea

North Korea News Podcast

This week, long-time North Korea aid worker Kathi Zellweger joins the podcast to discuss her more than two decades of work to help the people of the DPRK, especially children with hearing disabilities. She talks about her last trip to the country in 2019 before North Korea shut its borders to prevent the spread of the COVID-19. She also shares how she first got involved in humanitarian work, her hopes for humanitarian and development assistance in the DPRK and a new book she is working on with previous podcast guest Mike Chinoy, who appeared on episode 213. Kathi Zellweger has worked to help the people of North Korea for over 25 years with Caritas Internationalis, a confederation of 162 national Catholic relief, development and social service organizations. She was based in Pyongyang for five years (2006-2011) as North Korea country director for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and then with her own organization KorAid Limited, which is based in Hong Kong and focuses on helping people with disabilities. About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot 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.