-
Pyongyang is not happy about foreign radio broadcasts
North Korea’s state-run news agency has hit out against propaganda radio broadcasts targeted at the country. (This post has been updated. See below) In a commentary published on Wednesday, the Korean Central News Agency criticized the broadcasts for using “the same frequency band as used by the TV broadcasting in the DPRK and conducting its anti-DPRK radio propaganda with…
-
Kim Han-Sol’s Internet footprint
The teenager believed to be the 16 year-old grandson of Kim Jong Il has scrambling to delete or block access to his Internet social media accounts after news spread of his admission into a Bosnian school. Attention was focused on the accounts — one on Facebook and two on Twitter — after South Korean media…
-
AP expands KRT video deal to high-def
The Associated Press has signed a deal with North Korean state television that gives it exclusive rights to high-definition video of major news events in the country. The deal comes as AP and its biggest competitor, Reuters, race to expand their access to North Korea ahead of the 100th anniversary of Kim Il Sung’s birth…
-
‘I’ is for the Internet he bans
Kim Jong Il made a surprise appearance on the season premiere edition of Fox TV’s “The Simpsons” on Sunday night. And so did “the Internet he banned.” The episode, which marked the beginning of the 23rd season of the hit animated show, features a former CIA agent called Wayne. Played by Kiefer Sutherland, Wayne becomes…
-
South Korea’s online blocking sharply rose in 2010
The number of requests by South Korean police for the deletion of Internet content alleged to be pro-North Korean has soared in the past two years, according to a report in the Dong-A Ilbo. Police submitted 80,449 requests to the Korea Communications Standards Commission for the removal of online postings in 2010. That compares to…
-
Tuning the FM dial in Pyongyang
Switch on an FM radio in Pyongyang and there isn’t much to listen to, according to a scan of the FM band by a recent visitor to the country. Mark Fahey found just two radio stations available, although one was repeated on multiple frequencies. Pyongyang FM Broadcasting (Pyongyang FM Pangsong) was broadcasting on 105.2 MHz.…
-
Group plans satellite TV to North Korea
A private South Korean group is planning to raise US$46 million to fund the launch of a satellite TV station aimed at North Korea, according to a report by VOA News. Unification TV, which could be on the air as early as next year, plans to beam South Korean dramas and other entertainment programs, according…
-
Report: Stronger GPS jammer developed
North Korea has developed a powerful jammer that can disrupt GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite signals over a range of “more than 100 kilometers,” according to a South Korean government report, Yonhap News said Tuesday. News of the jamming equipment was included in a report submitted to South Korea’s parliamentary committee on defense this week,…
-
North Korea’s character set
A couple of months ago I wrote about the ways North Korean websites show respect to Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il by increasing the font size when writing their names. In a reply to that article, a reader mentioned North Korea’s official character set: the country’s official list of Hangul and other characters…
-
AP hopes to open Pyongyang bureau in early 2012
The Associated Press expects to finalize plans this week to open a news bureau in Pyongyang. A team from the U.S.-based news organization is currently in the North Korean capital negotiating the details of the bureau, which AP President Tom Curley said he hopes will be open in early 2012. Curley told South Korea’s Yonhap…
