I have found that Voice of Korea's beams to the Americas propagate best in May and June, but this year, when the solar activity is as low as can be, it hasn't been great. But it's still better than the preceding months.
Lots of people have QSL'd VOK, so go for it. But it must be sent by snail mail.
Anyway, I have some hearing damage and always struggle to understand it. The signal has to be just perfect, which I haven't copied since May/June of 2016, because between their accents (especially the male announcer), their sometimes strange diction ("dotard," anyone?), the perennial presence of their own jamming transmission mixing with their broadcast, and of course the background noise that their signal seldom overcomes, I can usually only understand every fourth or fifth word myself. That said, this time of year gives you your best shot at hearing a decent copy.
And yes, it's an interesting station to listen to, because until very recently it was the one most stuck in Cold War mode, with over the top screeds about America and the "South Korean puppet" (the government in Seoul). When I started getting into SWLing, it reminded me greatly of Mao-era CCP propaganda I had studied. Listeners who remember Radio Peking will know what I'm talking about.