The Association of Broadcasters for North
Korea has criticized Pyongyang for installing fences along the Sino-North
Korean border to prevent people from escaping the country, calling the decision
a move to ‘turn the entire country into a prison camp’.
The organization, which consists of
Unification Media Group, North Korea Reform Radio, and Free North Korea Radio,
issued a statement on Tuesday which said, “the act goes against its own people
who are hoping for reforms and an open society.” The group went on to slam the
leadership saying, “By sealing off the borders, North Korea is announcing to
the entire world that it is holding its 25 million people as long-term
hostages.”
Cutting off borders has become a more
widespread practice since Kim Jong Un was designated successor of the
leadership. The North has stepped up monitoring along the border and installed
more fences near the Tumen River in the name of preventing people from
escaping, the group said.
Sealing off the border stems from the
obsession with isolation and the belief that it is the only way to maintain the
hereditary third-generation leadership, the association asserted.
In times as such, the group added, radio
broadcasts can be one of the most important mechanisms to instill change in the
North. “We will continue to spread word of the Kim Jong Un leadership’s acts
against its own people and strengthen our message on reforms and democracy,” it
said.
