-
·
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…
-
·
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…
-
·
State media is fast with news of Kim’s departure for Russia
North Korean state media has showed unusual speed in reporting on the movements of Kim Jong Un for the second time this year. Kim’s departure for Russia from Pyongyang railway station headlined state radio news bulletins on Wednesday morning and made the front page of the day’s newspapers despite apparently happening just hours earlier (See…
-
·
KCTV appears on a South Korean satellite
North Korea’s state-run television and radio service has begun broadcasting via a South Korean satellite, according to reports from satellite monitors in the region. Korea Central Television (조선중앙텔레비죤) appeared on the Koreasat-5A satellite in mid March alongside two radio stations: the Korean Central Broadcasting Station (조선중앙방송) and Voice of Korea (조선의소리). The transmission appears to…
-
·
Pyongyang Time is here and there are already changes
North Korea’s new time zone, Pyongyang Time, went into effect early Friday and changes are already being seen. The new time zone shifts time in North Korea so it’s half an hour later than the time in Seoul and Tokyo and half an hour close to Beijing. It was announced last week and was introduced on August 15…
-
·
South Korea’s jamming of North Korean radio
North Korea’s attempts to block the flow of information from the outside world to its people are well know and well documented, but much less known is South Korea’s attempts to keep its citizens from having unrestricted access to media from North Korea. The country’s national Internet firewall makes it fairly easy to keep curious…
-
·
Kim Jong Il’s death – monitoring North Korean TV and radio
The news of Kim Jong Il’s death has all eyes focused on the Asian nation. Unlike many other countries, there’s only a handful of official news outlets and getting direct access can be difficult. North Korean TV (KCTV) can be watched live through the Thaicom 5 satellite throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa and some…
-
·
High-quality recordings of DPRK radio
Mark Fahey in Australia wrote to let me know about a project he’s working on that involves the capture of hours of North Korean radio via satellite. The broadcasts of the Korean Central Broadcasting Station domestic service via Thaicom are much higher quality than anything that’s generally available online, including my recordings from shortwave. Here’s…
-
·
Korean Central Broadcasting Station
The Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) (Korean: ??????, Chinese: ??????, Japanese: ??????) is the main domestic radio network in the DPRK. It sits under the Central Broadcasting Committee of the DPRK (called the Radio and Television Committee of the DPRK until 2009). KCBS broadcasts from 5am to 3am local time via a network of mediumwave…
