In a post on sanctions against North Korea regarding the ban on “luxury” items to North Korea including radio receivers, MF asks:

What I find odd about this list, in fact, are the bans on various communication and media production devices. You would think that these are exactly the sorts of things that anti-DPRK governments would want to flood the country to damage the information control regime of Kim Jong Il’s government.

Indeed, especially since US overseas broadcaster Voice of America is expanding its Korean language coverage:

The VOA began working out an expanded Korean service after the U.S. Congress passed the North Korean Human Rights Act in October 2004 with a provision calling for boosting Korean-language radio broadcasts.

In late October, the VOA expanded the service by 30 minutes, which had lasted only three hours a day. It plans a further phased expansion to five hours by next October.

The expansion plan also includes doubling its Korean service staff from the current 20 in Washington and opening a new office in Seoul.

Regarding the aforementioned receivers, here is what the article has to say:

In North Korea, radios are strictly controlled so only state-run broadcasts reach its people. According to defectors, however, many North Koreans modify their radio receivers and secretly listen to broadcasts from outside.

Apparently, a U.S private research agency estimates that a whopping 36 percent of North Koreans listen to VOA programs at least once a week. If that’s true, it’s huge news—but regardless, the potential of America broadcasting directly to a large proportion of the North Korean people is a pretty ballsy move, and could be a real agent for change.

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