[imText1]According to a recent survey, more than 2 out of 10 North Korean defectors in South Korea experienced the South Korean media when they had been in the North.
Korea Press Foundation and Database Center for North Korean Human Rights carried out a joint project surveying the condition of North Korean defectors’ experiences of the Southern media. 330 defectors in South Korea were surveyed and 24.1% of them said they had experienced South Korean media when they had been in the North.
Among the media they experienced, radio was used the most (18.4%), TV the next (5.2%), and newspaper the least (2%). Hence, it is affirmed that the radio is the most accessible medium for North Koreans to obtain outside information.
Among the content of the press organizations which North Korean defectors encountered, KBS Social and Educational Radio is contacted the most (9.2%), and Radio Free Asia (3.0%), Hankook Daily (0.7%), and Far East Broadcasting Company (0.7%) are also considerably contacted.
Out of those who experienced South Korean media, 22.7% said they had enjoyed a medium more than once everyday, and another 22.7% said more than once every week. It seems that even though it is difficult for North Koreans to contact outside mass media, they tend to resort to a medium, once they happen to experience it.
Among the respondents, 64.5% said they mostly obtain information through TV after they entered South Korea, 20.7% said through newspapers, 6.9% said through the internet, and 3% said through radio. More than half of the respondents pointed to terminology and foreign expressions as the reason they have difficulty understanding the content, which indicates that the Southern and Northern dialects are diverging further and further.
The survey was conducted by the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights in answer to the Korea Press Foundation’s request, and published on the 8th of this month as a Report on the Condition of North Korean Defector’s Experience of Mass Media. The Report contains ▲ a report on the defectors’ media experience in North Korea and other countries, ▲ a report on the defector’s media experience in South Korea, ▲ a report on the channels and the understanding and use of information the defectors obtain, and ▲ a proposal for a policy.
330 North Korean defectors whose stay in the South is less than 2 years participated in the survey. They were asked questions face to face last October.
