North Korea ratcheting up its criticism of radio broadcasts aimed at the North Korean people shows that these radio broadcasts are having an influence on the North Korean people’s awareness.
Chosun Central News Agency (KCNA) released an editorial on the 5th in which it stated, “The action of sending anti-Republic broadcasting by invading frequencies is a criminal act aggressively violating international law and order.” It added, “They are trying to affect the overthrow of socialism by raising complaints within our people.”
KCNA asserted, “We have already demanded several times that the puppet factions put away their anti-Republic psychological maneuvers,” before threatening, “We warned them very seriously that their base of operations will not be able to escape merciless punishment if it continues.”
Elsewhere, in a statement released by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued on October 1st, North Korea added, “Deliberately invading not just our radio but also television frequency bandwidth is an ill-advised anti-national act in flagrant violation of international treaties and order driving inter-Korean relations to extremes.”
The North Korean authorities’ menacing reaction seems to imply a sense of crisis regarding foreign broadcasts targeting North Koreans. As a matter of fact, North Korea has recently added strength to its crackdowns on the circulation of external information.
Assessing the North Korean reaction, a worker with Open Radio for North Korea told the Daily NK, “The purpose of these broadcasts is not a political one, but simply delivering the right information to the North Korean people,” and went on, “The North Korean people’s will to know the world through broadcasting cannot and should not be blocked.”
According to his explanation, most defectors now entering South Korea have been exposed to foreign information, and this was among the key reasons why they decided to defect. 9 defectors coming to South Korea via Japan also recently revealed that they have listened to foreign radio.
Shim Hye Kyung, one such defector, explained, “Since the People’s Safety Ministry pushes us not to listen and not to watch, I sought them out of curiosity. After that I realized that I had been fooled by them. The resentment that I had been deceived so far and awareness that I couldn’t live on in the same way made me decide to leave North Korea.”
