The South Korean government has agreed to maintain a system for the broadcasting of analogue TV signals, ensuring the ability of people in North Korea to watch analogue South Korean television despite the broader shift to digital television now underway.
The move came after concerns were raised that the ability of North Korean people living along the west coast of Hwanghae and east coast of Gangwon Province was going to be undermined by the shift to digital.
A government official reported the news on Christmas Day following a meeting with the relevant broadcasting authorities.
“People from the three northeastern provinces of China and in North Korea itself have been getting access to our news through (South Korean) broadcasts, but when we moved to a digital signal they would not be able to do so,” the government official explained. “It was from this perspective that we made this decision.”
On October 29th 2012, Daily NK reported on the disappointment felt by those in Gangwon Province after the analogue signal broadcast in nearby South Korean Gangwon Province was switched off on the 25th of the same month.
