PRIVATE BROADCASTING TO NORTH KOREA

UNCLAS SEOUL 001141 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PREF PGOV PINR KS KN SUBJECT: PRIVATE BROADCASTING TO NORTH KOREA ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Fueled by foreign funding, three Seoul-based radio stations are broadcasting news, information about defection, entertainment and other programming into the DPRK via shortwave platforms located overseas. The three -- Free NK Radio (FreeNK),Open Radio for North Korea (OpenRadio) and Radio Free Chosun (RFC) -- have emerged in response to a perception that ROKG broadcasts to the North have become "diluted" by the Sunshine Policy and that Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) are "too American." Although the extent of the DPRK shortwave radio audience is unknown, proponents believe that the availability of inexpensive radios from China and a weakening of central government control may make broadcasting an increasingly viable way of reaching out to the North Korean people. END SUMMARY. ROKG BROADCASTING TO NORTH KOREA -------------- ¶2. (SBU) ROKG official broadcasting is conducted through the Korean Broadcasting Service (KBS). Producer Park Myung-gyu told us that the KBS began its DPRK broadcasting in 1948 as the "Free Sound of Korea," an anti-Communist effort targeting ethnic Koreans in North Korea, China and the USSR. KBS changed the name to the Social Education Service (SES) in 1972 pursuant to a North-South agreement that the two countries would not slander one another. KBS directs its programs not specifically to the DPRK, but rather to ethnic Koreans living in Northeast Asia. ¶3. (SBU) Park said that, in accordance with the Sunshine Policy, SES has modified its programs over the past decade to reflect the ROKG's focus on promoting reconciliation and cooperation with the DPRK. Its current objective is to inform ethnic Koreans about regional current events, religion, and ROK pop culture. Some programming, however, is tailored to a North Korean audience. A program called "Unification Train," for example, invites resettled North Koreans to discuss their experiences, while another program, "Faces We Long to See, Voices We Long to Hear," focuses on the stories of separated families. SES broadcasts 24-hours per day. PRIVATE BROADCASTING FILLS VOID LEFT BY SUNSHINE POLICY -------------- -------------- ¶4. (SBU) FreeNK, OpenRadio, and RFC have emerged -- with substantial assistance from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) -- in response to a perception that SES programming has become too diluted under recent ROK administrations. The ROKG is too concerned about upsetting the DPRK, explained one station representative. Another pointed out that SES is of only limited effectiveness because it neither focuses on the DPRK, nor uses North Korean defectors as announcers. While the broadcasters were generally supportive of VOA and RFA, which broadcast between three and four hours of Korean-language programming per day, some thought that the two stations were too closely associated with the United States to attract a widespread North Korean audience. FREE NK RADIO -------------- ¶5. (SBU) FreeNK is a shortwave station (11750 kHz) which broadcasts daily from 19:00 until 20:00 and, starting from May 1, from 05:30 until 06:30 at 7390 kHz. This relatively short broadcast period is based on available funding. Programming, which Director Kim Seong-min characterized as "mental food" for North Koreans, typically involves interviews with resettled North Koreans or North Korea specialists about the DPRK, current events, separated families, advice about defection, warnings about human trafficking, and success stories from successfully resettled North Koreans. According to Kim, the station strives to produce objective and accurate reports that would allow North Korean listeners to make their own decisions. FreeNK also broadcasts entertainment programming, such as a drama based on anecdotes from one of Kim Jong-il's bodyguards. ¶6. (SBU) Six of FreeNK's ten staff members are resettled North Koreans, including one who used to be an announcer in the DPRK. According to Kim, North Korean listeners feel more comfortable with North Korean broadcasters and are more likely to trust the message if it is delivered in a familiar accent. The programs are recorded in Seoul on digital MP3 files and sent to VT Group, a British company which operates a commercial shortwave radio network. Kim said that VT Group broadcasts the programs into the DPRK from Taiwan. ¶7. (SBU) As an indicator of success, Kim noted that the DPRK in official media has denounced FreeNK as "trash" and advised that FreeNK's building "should be blown up." Kim, though proud of the recognition, takes these threats seriously. He said that leftist South Korean groups, such as Tongilyeondae and Hancheongyon, have organized protests, sometimes violent, in front of FreeNK's office. According to Kim, FreeNK has also received threatening phone calls and packages, including a bloody ax. Two plainclothes police officers are at all times stationed in front of FreeNK offices, which are unmarked. ¶8. (SBU) Domestic political opposition has made funding difficult. Kim said that he at first relied primarily on defector donations, which were insufficient. FreeNK was able to begin regular broadcasts after it received a USD 150,000 National Endowment for Democracy (NED) grant in 2005. It received another USD 200,000 from NED in 2006, and an additional USD 20,000 from Freedom House. Kim was upbeat about funding prospects for 2007. He said that FreeNK might receive USD 300,000 from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor through a grant arranged by the Defense Freedom Forum. In addition, he was optimistic that FreeNK could sell advertising on its website. OPEN RADIO FOR NORTH KOREA -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Echoing FreeNK's President Kim, OpenRadio President Young Howard said that his station also provides "food for the North Korean mind." Howard said that although OpenRadio implicitly works for regime change in the DPRK, its public purpose is to promote conversation between the people of North and South Korea, which is necessary for "true reconciliation" between the two Koreas. OpenRadio, which operates out of a storefront marked "Construction," has been on the air since July 2006, has a staff of six, and currently broadcasts from 23:00 to 24:00 at 7390 kHz. ¶10. (SBU) Unlike FreeNK, OpenRadio generally does not produce its own material, but instead airs content provided by 10 non-governmental organizations, including Freedom House and the International Republican Institute, and 15 universities. OpenRadio programming generally consists of drama, music, education, health care, news, language instruction, or civic education. In a typical civic education program, defectors and South Koreans would talk about different types of political systems and compare the South and North Korean systems. Howard said that because North Koreans are most concerned about their finances, OpenRadio also broadcasts a program on how to make money. OpenRadio sends the digitally formatted programming to VT Group for transmission into North Korea from sites in Malaysia, Taiwan, Kyrgyzstan, and elsewhere. ¶11. (SBU) OpenRadio's support base tends to be more progressive than FreeNK's mostly conservative backers because any individual or group can participate by contributing content. As a result, said Howard, OpenRadio has attracted student and other groups who "think it's a humanitarian project." Howard said that Radio 21, a pro-Roh Moo-hyun organization, is one of its contributors. Financially, OpenRadio receives USD 200,000 from NED, USD 25,000 from Freedom House and about USD 75,000 from donations. ¶12. (SBU) Marketing a radio program which is illegal for its target audience is a challenge, said Howard. Without further elaboration, he said that OpenRadio capitalizes on the relatively free flow of CDs, DVDs, and VCDs across the North Korea-China border. (NOTE: NKNet Secretary General Kim Yun-tae recently told us that "some radio organizations" advertise the frequency and time of their programming at the end of CDs, DVDs, and other media bound for North Korea via the border areas of China. END NOTE.). RADIO FREE CHOSUN -------------- ¶13. (SBU) Radio Free Chosun (RFC) is the most secretive of the private broadcasting groups. It records thirty minutes of programming each day from an undisclosed location in Seoul. Even when meeting with us, RFC would only meet in the office of a separate organization, NKNet, and was circumspect about revealing the identity of the representatives we met, Assistant Director "Ms. Park," and Editor "Mr. Chung," a North Korean defector. ¶14. (SBU) RFC has six full-time and three part-time staff, Park said, and operates on a USD 200,000 NED grant, additional Freedom House funding, and help from NKNet. Like the other alternative stations, RFC also contracts with an unidentified third party to broadcast its programming into North Korea from a platform outside the ROK. RFC broadcasts original programming between 05:00 and 05:30 at 9785 kHz, and replays the broadcast between 22:30 and 23:00 at 9485 kHz. ¶15. (SBU) RFC creates its own programming. Its major current project is a serial drama based on the life of Kim Jong-il. Fifteen actors volunteer to play 70 parts in the 50-episode series, starting from "debunking the myth of Kim Jong-il's birth." According to Park, the drama will allow the North Korean people to make their own decisions regarding their leadership. IS ANYONE LISTENING? -------------- ¶16. (SBU) It is difficult to estimate the number of North Koreans in the DPRK who listen to foreign radio broadcasts. In a 2005 survey conducted by the NGO NK Database, over 18 percent of 291 resettled North Koreans said that they had heard foreign radio broadcasts while in the DPRK. Among this group, all of whom left the DPRK after 2003, the most popular program was KBS's Social Education Program (10.52 percent), followed by Radio Free Asia (3.61 percent),Voice of America (.65 percent) and Radio Free NK (.65 percent). ¶17. (SBU) According to a May 2005 InterMedia survey of 200 defectors, 10 percent of defectors listened to VOA and 3.5 percent listened to RFA at least once a week while in the DPRK. FreeNK's Kim said that a 2006 Christian Council of Korea survey found that 17 percent of resettled North Koreans had listened to FreeNK. Reflecting on his own experience, Howard from OpenRadio believes that there are many broadcast listeners ("BCLs") who scan radio channels late at night, just as South Korean student activists used to listen to North Korean broadcasts in the 1980s. ¶18. (SBU) RFC's Chung, who listened to foreign broadcasting from the 1980s until his 2003 defection, claimed 70 percent of North Koreans, and perhaps 100 percent of those near the DPRK-China border, possess radios. Representatives of FreeNK, OpenRadio and RFC all agreed that most North Korean listeners receive the broadcasts on shortwave radios smuggled across the border from China. According to OpenRadio's Howard, small, digital radios are readily available in border areas of China and even in North Korean markets for about USD ¶5. NKNet Secretary General Kim Yun-tae said that radios are available in the DPRK for about USD 10. Most have AM/FM/shortwave reception, as well as tape recorders which provide "legitimate" cover that could protect the owner if discovered by authorities, Kim said. ¶19. (SBU) There appear to be other sources of shortwave radios as well. FreeNK's Kim said that diplomats or others with travel privileges sometimes carry radios into the country. Kim also said that the ROK National Intelligence Service sent numerous radios into the DPRK by balloon prior to 2002. Some NGOs are also engaged in sending radios into the DPRK. An evangelical Christian Group, TWR, told us that it had distributed "thousands" of radios in North Korea. ¶20. (SBU) While listeners still expose themselves to considerable risk by tuning into foreign broadcasting, there is a perception among broadcasters that the risk is diminishing. Societal control is collapsing, said RFC's Chung, and the regime is no longer able to enforce the laws as strictly as it once did. FreeNK Assistant Director Kim Ki-seong likewise said that government control appears to have lessened and people are more confident about breaking the rules. Howard from OpenRadio also said that the penalties for listening to illegal broadcasts in the DPRK appear to be less severe than in the past. Whereas in the past a person caught listening to a prohibited station would be sent to prison, the police now just confiscate the radio and sell it in the market. EFFICACY OF BROADCASTS -------------- ¶21. (SBU) Kookmin University Professor Andrei Lankov is a strong proponent of radio broadcasting. According to Lankov, the number of listeners is probably small, but broadcasting could play an important role in regime transformation. When change comes, the radio listeners -- who are likely to be relatively well-educated risk takers -- will be either the catalysts of change or positioned to move into positions of authority after change occurs. ¶22. (SBU) He explained that the target audience should be mid- to high-level functionaries in Pyongyang, and programming should include entertainment media along with objective news. "BBC hooked many listeners in the Soviet Union because of its expert commentary on classical music. Something similar is needed in North Korea." Lankov suggested that a diversity of programming, including religious, education, news, and one or two more "aggressive" stations, would be an effective approach. Programming that is too stridently anti-DPRK would likely repulse the majority of listeners. ¶23. (SBU) Dongguk University Professor Koh Yu-hwan agreed that direct criticism of the DPRK regime could undermine the credibility of such programming. Koh suggested that programming should have direct relevance to the everyday lives of North Koreans. "The North Korean population," said Koh, "is curious about what is happening outside their country. Accordingly, regional current affairs programming would be useful as well." Kim Geun-shik from the Institute for Far Eastern Studies thought that the defector programming was a useful addition to previous broadcasts. Voice of America and Radio Free Asia were "too American," he said, and thus had a limited appeal. ¶24. (SBU) Inje University Professor Brian Myers said that "Cold War style" broadcasts are unlikely to be effective. Myers, who is an expert on DPRK propaganda, explained that the DPRK's legitimacy is not based on the belief that Kim Jong-il is giving North Koreans a better standard of living. It is a nationalist message that Kim Jong-il is protecting pure Koreans from foreign subjugation and domination. Using outside propaganda to fight nationalism is very difficult, as demonstrated by its nearly complete ineffectiveness with Imperial Japan. ¶25. (SBU) The messenger would also be important. Myers pointed out that most defectors are uneducated laborers or farmers from North Hamkyeong Province, the poorest region of North Korea. The educated classes in Pyongyang -- the most valuable target of broadcasting -- would not be persuaded by the typical defector. "Imagine if the U.S. were under a totalitarian regime. Would the educated classes in Washington be convinced by late-night shortwave broadcasts from West Virginian expats?" There would have to be a great emphasis on finding well-educated, sophisticated North Koreans to do the broadcasts. ¶26. (SBU) Lankov suggested that programming created by Korean-Americans could be useful. According to standard DPRK propaganda, overseas Koreans suffer under the yoke of foreign imperialists and are merely waiting for the opportunity to return to a unified Korea. Direct radio broadcasts from content Korean-Americans would help disabuse North Koreans of that notion. Myers disagreed. "Korean-Americans are presented as prodigal son figures. They are Koreans who have betrayed their country. It probably would not be an advantage in propaganda terms." COMMENT -------------- ¶27. (SBU) Radio programming could play an important role in providing North Koreans with an initial exposure to world events and the diversity of opinions that exist beyond DPRK borders. As inexpensive electronics filter into the DPRK through the Chinese border, programs such as those described above are likely to enjoy a growing audience, especially if broadcasters continue to use North Korean announcers and otherwise tailor their programs to their target audience. ¶28. (SBU) It is also noteworthy that former ROK democracy activists are spearheading OpenRadio, and probably RFC as well. Both appear to have close links with each other and NKNet, an NGO with roots in the democracy movement and a mandate to pursue North Korean human rights. Their fixation on secrecy likely reflects not just a concern for the resettled North Koreans with whom they work, but also the standard operating procedures that they developed in the 1980s. While most of their colleagues from the democracy movement have since become advocates of reconciliation and engagement, these former activists have found the comfort of moral consistency in activities which more directly promote human rights and democracy in the DPRK. Their main obstacle is the expense of overseas transmission, which severely limits the duration of the broadcasts. END COMMENT. STANTON