North Korea is often branded as a strange and mysterious “hermit kingdom,” but those who have spent a significant amount of time there will likely say the country is actually “80% normal.”

At least that’s the case for Andray Abrahamian, author of “Being in North Korea” and a former Koret Fellow at Stanford University’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC).

NK News podcast host Jacco Zwetsloot sat down with Abrahamian to talk about everyday life in North Korea, from women’s rights to getting ahead in the office.

Abrahamian frequently traveled to the DPRK as part of an