Lawmaker urges government on AM frequency for NGO-based broadcasts


Image: Daily NK

The allotment of an AM frequency for
NGO-based radio stations targeting North Korea and shifting South Korean
government strategy from economics to media are the keys to drive change in the North and ultimately bring together the two Koreas, say those who have long been at the heart of these issues. 

A recent conference held in Seoul, hosted
by the office of Ha Tae Kyung, lawmaker and former human rights
activist, and the Association of Broadcasters for North
Korea, focused heavily on amending the current broadcasting act as one of the
most effective tools at our disposal to incite further grassroots change in
North Korea. 

Currently, NGO-based entities like Unification Media
Group [UMG] are unable to transmit broadcasts to North Korea via AM frequencies
due to opposition from lawmakers fearing that these broadcasts further provoke Pyongyang
and worsen inter-Korean relations. As a result, these outfits broadcast via
shortwave on borrowed time–at a prohibitive cost–from regions in Central and Southeast Asia, which Ha urged the South Korean government to resolve. 

Ha followed by calling for an overall paradigm shift in government tactics, noting the merits and
potential for change present in shifting economic-oriented tactics to media-centric ones. This, he said, would not only accelerate change in the North but also create a solid foundation on which both Koreas
could unite and rebuild.

“In response to North Korea’s attack on
Cheonan (a South Korean navy corvette) in 2010, the South Korean government enacted the May 24th Measures the same year, severing almost all economic inter-Korean
economic ties,” Ha said, elaborating that contrary to the South Korean
government’s expectations, the sanctions failed to cripple the regime and drive
further engagement or opening. Instead, the measures merely boosted Sino-North
Korea trade and isolated the North Korean people further from the rest of the
world.
 

“Economic sanctions such as the May 24th measures
inflict harm not only on the North Korean government but, more importantly, the
North Korean citizens. On the other hand, transmitting radio broadcasts to the
North deals a blow only to the North Korean government–not its citizens. In
fact, these broadcasts are actually doing a service to the citizens by
providing them with information from the outside world; the government,
however, does everything it can to keep them disconnected,” Ha pointed out.
 

Ha went on to point out that five years of keeping with the May 24th Measures has not pushed Pyongyang to budge; a week of broadcasts across the DMZ, on the other hand, triggered the North to propose
inter-Korean dialogue. Even more telling, Ha added, is that in the latest round
of talks, Pyongyang never broached the May 24 Measures–until now a common component of its negotiations — demanding only an end to the loudspeaker
broadcasts.
 

“This shows how ineffective the economic
sanctions are and how powerful radio broadcasts are,” asserted Ha, adding that
Kim Jong Un’s own experience abroad as an adolescent would surely have provided him with
more than sufficient knowledge of how powerful outside information can be to
change citizens’ awareness and pry loose the regime’s powerful grip of control over
its population.  
 

Lee Kwang Baek, president of UMG, also voiced his agreement, noting, “Both Koreas blasted propaganda broadcasts at
each other until 2004 [after which they were bilaterally suspended] but Kim
Jong Un is undoubtedly more sensitive to the broadcasts than Kim Jong Il ever
was.”
 

Added Lee, “Trying to reach out to North Korean
citizens via broadcasts accessible on their personal radios would be more effective than the loudspeaker broadcasts blasted across the DMZ. Civil society organizations like UMG are trying to reach out to North Korean citizens throughout the country–a goal that will be made far more successful by transmitting on an AM frequency.” 

Moreover, Lee asserted, NGO-based broadcasts do far less to provoke Pyongyang than the loudspeaker broadcasts at the border, which have a limited radius. “We have to stop thinking about inter-Korean
relationship as confined only to government-level interactions. Citizens of both Koreas can be drivers for change and improving bilateral ties,” Lee stated.