Category: Media

  • DPRK are new baddies in Hollywood movie remake

    Imagine, you’re midway through shooting a movie in which China invades the U.S. and all that stands in its way of national domination is a small group of teens. You might think that sentence sums up your biggest problem, but you’re wrong. Portions of the script and photos from the set have been leaked in…

  • Pyongyang to get Olympic TV coverage

    The Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union has agreed to supply North Korea with live TV coverage of the 2012 Olympic games. The agreement was reached during a meeting in Pyongyang between Kim In-Kyu, president of the ABU, and representatives of Korea Central Television (조선중앙텔레비죤). Kim went to Pyongyang specifically to work out a relay for Olympic TV…

  • ABU set to negotiate Olympic TV deal for North Korea

    The ability of North Koreans to watch their athletes compete at the 2012 Olympics looks set to be decided this week, just in time for the opening of the games. A official from the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), an organization of major broadcasters in the Asia Pacific, is due to travel to Pyongyang to discuss…

  • North Korea apparently testing digital radio

    North Korea apparently testing digital radio

    North Korea appears to be testing digital radio broadcasting. Hiroshi Inoue, a radio monitor in Japan, received on Wednesday the country’s international radio service, Voice of Korea, broadcasting on shortwave using DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale). DRM is a digital broadcasting technology developed for use on AM and shortwave services. He posted a couple of clips…

  • Voice of Korea mid 2012 full schedule

    Voice of Korea mid 2012 full schedule

    Previously I listed the English-language broadcasting schedule of Voice of Korea, North Korea’s international shortwave broadcasting station. Here’s the full schedule of all services, listed by time and then by language. The schedule comes courtesy of Arnulf Piontek in Berlin, Germany. The schedule shows the time in GMT (UTC), the language, the frequencies in kilohertz…

  • North Koreans gaining more access to foreign media, says report

    Cracks in the information wall that has long surrounded North Korea are increasingly allowing citizens in the country more exposure to foreign media, according to a report published on Thursday. The report, produced by Intermedia for the U.S. Department of State, was based on surveys of several hundred defectors, refugees and travelers, and found “substantial…

  • Voice of Korea mid-2012 schedule

    Voice of Korea mid-2012 schedule

    North Korea’s international shortwave broadcaster, the Voice of Korea, will use the following schedule for English language broadcasts from April 30, 2012. The radio station broadcasts two programs a day, each around 57 minutes long. Program one is carried on broadcasts aimed at South East Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, South Africa and…

  • DPRK radio transmitters a national secret

    When North Korea launched a modernization of its broadcasting network in 2011, the Chinese company chosen to supply new TV and radio transmitters to the country faced a problem. The location of broadcast towers in North Korea is so much of a state secret that engineers from the company weren’t permitted to travel to the DPRK…

  • TV presenters have new double-Kim pin

    Sometimes it’s the little things that mark larger changes in North Korean society. [This post has been updated, see below] As the nation celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of national founder Kim Il Sung this Sunday, April 15, announcers on state television have begun wearing new pins that have two faces on them.…

  • Changes at Pyongyang Earth Station

    Changes at Pyongyang Earth Station

    A recent Google Earth update has revealed some changes at one of North Korea’s largest international communications center. Pyongyang Earth Station, situated in Pyongyang’s eastern suburb of Sadong, is believed to be responsible for the country’s civilian satellite communications links with the rest of the world. I wrote a little about its history in a previous post.…