Made it, Korea

Produced by Arirang Radio, South Korea’s international broadcasting service, Made it, Korea tells the story of how modern South Korea came to be. The show has 78 episodes and was still releasing new content as of March 2025, making it one of the more active Korean history podcasts in English right now. The focus is squarely on the 20th and 21st centuries. Episodes cover independence activists like Ahn Jung-geun, Lee Bong-chang, and Kim Sang-ok, tracing their individual stories within the larger struggle against Japanese colonial rule. The show examines resistance organizations like the Singanhoe (which briefly united Korean socialist and nationalist factions) and the Geunuhoe women’s movement. More recent history gets attention too -- there are episodes on martial law, presidential impeachments, and the 2002 Yangju incident where two middle school girls were killed by a U.S. military vehicle, sparking massive protests. Professor John DiMoia appears frequently as a contributing expert, lending academic weight to the storytelling. Episodes run about 20-25 minutes and follow a structured narrative format that makes complex political history accessible without oversimplifying it. The show also covers cultural milestones like the Daeyeonggak Hotel fire (the worst fire disaster in South Korean history) and the story of Lee Soo-hyun, a Korean exchange student in Japan whose act of heroism became a symbol of Korean-Japanese relations. With a 5.0 rating on Apple Podcasts, it has quietly built a loyal following among listeners who want Korean history told by Korean broadcasters.