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Korean-language broadcasting in China
In several regions along North Korea’s northern border with China, Korean-language programming from Chinese broadcasters is available on television and radio. Unlike programming such as Voice of America, Radio Free Asia or KBS Social Radio, these broadcasts are not intended for reception in North Korea but for the large number of Korean speakers who live…
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Voice of Korea summer 2020 schedule
It’s been a while since I posted the shortwave schedule for Voice of Korea (조선의소리), North Korea’s international shortwave broadcasting station. The station continues to broadcast just as it always has, despite a steep drop in the number of people tuning into shortwave radio. You can hear daily broadcasts in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, German,…
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New Life for the Third Network
When hundreds of houses and apartments were completed last year, North Korean media showed residents entering their new homes, welcomed with a pile of household goods. On the wall of each home was something else provided by the state: a dedicated receiver for the country’s secretive third radio network (조선중앙제3방송) that relays daily news, instruction,…
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Health tips for PC use on state TV
North Korean workplaces aren’t renowned for being particularly high-tech, but a new program on state television hints at increasing PC use and associated health problems. The program called “콤퓨터사용과 건강관리,” or “Computer Use and Health,” sets the scene by saying computer use is expanding but can bring unwanted health problems including eye strain, back and…
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North Korea’s foreign propaganda set to play a more important role
Among the plans and promises delivered during Kim Jong Un’s report to the just-concluded 8th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) was a relatively minor reference that could spell big changes to the way North Korea tells its story overseas. “[The report] also referred to the need to frustrate the reactionary offensive of…
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Korean Central Radio testing digital broadcasting
The Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS), North Korea’s main national radio station, has been testing digital radio again. In early December, broadcasts from the station using the DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) format were received on shortwave. Compared to analog AM broadcasts, DRM signals are better quality but like all digital broadcasts there is little tolerance…
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New frequency for KCTV satellite broadcast
There is a new frequency for direct reception of Korean Central Television via Intelsat 21. This is the feed that covers most of western Europe and the Americas. The station has moved as part of a general shift to clear frequencies for 5G cellular use in the United States. Had it not moved, there is…
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Two interesting new Twitter accounts
Two new Twitter accounts have drawn the interest of North Korea watchers as they claim to be personally-run accounts by North Koreans that originate from Pyongyang. If true, they represent the first time individual North Koreans have had accounts on Twitter, but are they legit? It’s difficult to conclusively tell without access to the kind…
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We Interrupt this Propaganda…A Dynamic 24 Hours on North Korean TV
On Wednesday, North Korea’s state TV channel Korean Central Television (KCTV) took the historically unprecedented step of broadcasting through the night as the storm Typhoon Bavi (Typhoon No. 8) approached the country. This follows a Tuesday executive policy council meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea’s Central Committee where Kim Jong Un discussed the approaching…
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KCTV appears on Chinese satellite
Korean Central Television has appeared on a Chinese telecommunications satellite after technical problems hit its existing satellite. KCTV has been relayed on Chinasat-12 since mid-January, which is about a month after Bangkok-based Thaicom reported a “technical incident” on its Thaicom-5 satellite. Thaicom-5 is one of the most important TV satellites for South East Asia and…
