[HCDX] Private Citizens Liberating North Korea with Shortwave Radio

["Zacharias Liangas " <greekdx@xxxxxxxxx>]

Private Citizens Liberating North Korea with Shortwave Radio

By Kevin Kane, Graduate Student
http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00300&num=1740
[2007-03-05 00:45 ] 	
Before arriving in South Korea after moving here from the U.S., I never 
imagined that my journey would involve meeting people who are 
fighting on the front lines of North Korea's liberation, but that is exactly 
where my travels brought me on 23 February 2007. It was mid-
afternoon and Ha Tae-Kyoung, President of Open Radio for North 
Korea (ORNK) invited me into his office to discuss ORNK's operations. 
Despite the smell of stale coffee, old furniture, and heater fuel, Ha Tae-
Kyoung appeared un-phased and eager to explain the importance of 
their radio transmissions over North Korea-an operation that not too 
long ago, would have been considered only permissible for clandestine 
government organizations.

Anyone Can Broadcast

Ha explained that ORNK allows individuals, student groups, and private 
organizations to broadcast messages to North Korean people through 
shortwave radio. ORNK uses shortwave radio primarily because unlike 
AM and FM frequencies that are controlled by national governments 
and have a limited range, shortwave can be sent anywhere in the world 
and with little legal limitations. Ha stated that ORNK does not prepare 
the messages sent to North Korea; rather, you, the audience, submit 
the messages. Eagerly burning the midnight oil to overcome the radio 
censorship in North Korea, Ha and his staff, which is partly comprised 
of North Korean defectors, broadcast your messages over North Korea 
between 11 and 12pm.

Shortwave Radios in North Korea

According to Ha, shortwave radios are growing in popularity in North 
Korea and more people are acquiring them through China for about US 
$5.00. Ha went on to point out that if more North Koreans owned 
shortwave radios, ORNK would be able to reach a larger audience and 
have a greater impact on North Korean human rights.

Ha stated that possessing a shortwave radio is against the law in North 
Korea; however, those caught with them usually do not serve time in 
prison. Before the 1980's, a North Korean caught with a radio capable 
of listening to outside broadcasts could be sentenced to death. 
However, corruption in North Korea is too widespread for even Kim 
Jong-il to control. Corruption is a way of life in North Korea. 
Consequently, the security agents only confiscate the radios as 
punishment. The agents then turn around and sell them in the black 
market for their own personal profit. They do not record finding the 
radio because if they were to report its existence, they would not be 
able to sell them for their $5.00 value, which is a nice boost in income 
when considering that they earn $1.00 to $2.00 monthly salary. On the 
other hand, if North Korean security agents happen to catch someone 
listening to foreign transmissions on a radio, the lawbreaker will likely 
spend time in a prison camp like Yodok, one of the many Gulags 
(concentration camps) in North Korea.

More Listeners Needed

Ha pointed out that ORNK would be able to reach more North Korean 
listeners if more of them were able to afford the $5.00 radios made in 
China-something a private effort could facilitate by purchasing radios 
for smugglers returning to North Korea from China. With the number of 
ORNK listeners increasing, the number of defectors that report having 
listened to a shortwave radio transmission also increases. In one study 
conducted in 2001, about 2% of defectors that were hiding in China 
reported listening to a shortwave radio. In 2005, the Korea Press 
Foundation found that about 4% of defectors reported listening to a 
shortwave radio before making it to South Korea. In Early 2006, Lee 
Young Ho (pseudonym, age 33), a former North Korean, told the Daily 
NK that, "The number of houses listening to foreign radio around the 
border area reaches about five or six out of ten.I listened to Open Radio 
for North Korea around December 10th last year. When I heard that 
there had been a conference on North Korean human rights, I started 
to have faith."

Liberation Requires Privatized Support

Despite the recent claim by the North Korea government that radio 
transmissions have no effect on North Korea, the evidence says 
otherwise. Open Radio for North Korea is one of many organizations 
that broadcast shortwave radio to North Korea. Free North Korea Radio 
(FNKR) is another short wave radio organization dedicated to 
broadcasting over North Korea. Speaking to National Public Radio, Kim 
Sung-min, a former North Korean military propaganda writer and 
employee of Free North Korea Radio stated, "We want to contribute to 
the downfall of the North Korean regime. Not in a forceful, violent way, 
but by teaching North Koreans what democracy means, so they will 
initiate change themselves."

The privatized efforts of ORNK and FNKR are led by honorable men 
and women who are battling an information war at the front lines of 
liberation. They are feeding the growing demand for freedom in North 
Korea through the transmission of education, democracy, and liberty; 
they are educating North Koreans about their innate human rights. 
Because shortwave radio represents the only voice of hope for so many 
oppressed North Koreans, their future depends on the people of the 
free world to take action, extend their generosity and financial support, 
and participate in this private attempt to help North Koreans free 
themselves from misinformation and oppression. These shortwave 
radio organizations are informing North Koreans that freedom of 
speech is their right. ORNK provides North Koreans with hope that they 
too can one day join the world of the free. They are learning that 
freedom of speech is an innate right that when taken away, is against 
the good nature and order at which humans express themselves. 

http://zlgr.multiply.com (raidio monitoring site plus audio clips )
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/302315/ (Litohoro) 321199/Tinos 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachgr    pictures upload 
.
on my main : www.geocities.com/zliangas 
-tty-px.html : test of various TTY programs
-ethics.htm    : greek ethics , days and institutions 
-frape.htm: the greek way of cofee !!! 
Zacharias Liangas , Thessaloniki Greece 
greekdx @ otenet dot gr  ---  
Pesawat penerima: ICOM R75 , Lowe HF150 , Degen 1102,1103,108,
Tecsun PL200/550, Chibo c300/c979, Yupi 7000 
Antenna: 16m hor, 2x16 m V invert, 1m australian loop 


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