Media
KCNA adds higher resolution images
Oct 30th
This image appeared on the KCNA website on October 10 and is 400×276 pixels (click to enlarge)
Regular visitors to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) might have noticed something different about the site in the last few days. The North Korean state-run news agency has begun publishing higher resolution photographers alongside articles.
The change was first noted by Frank Feinstein, the New Zealand-based researcher who runs the KCNA Watch service.
The most recent images offered by KCNA are more than double the resolution of previous images at 900 pixels by 620 pixels. In the past they were a relatively low 400 pixels by More >
Voice of Korea schedule for winter 2013/2014
Oct 25th
Voice of Korea will switch to its winter 2013/2014 shortwave broadcasting schedule from October 27, 2013.
The broadcasts follow the same basic line-up each day.
:00 Opening signal, station identification: “This is Voice of Korea” :01 National Anthem :03 Song of General Kim Il Sung :06 Song of General Kim Jong Il :09 News, editorials (approx 15 minutes, but can be extended to full broadcast), followed by music :30 Reminiscences of Great Leader President Kim Il Sung of the century :40 Music and features :50 Editorial, special message (occasional) :55 Frequency information :57 Close
The Voice of Korea has traditionally refreshed these programs, More >
UK’s Channel 4 showing North Korea’s evening TV news
Oct 18th
As part of a season of programs and reports on North Korea, the U.K.’s Channel 4 is showing the main evening news from Korea Central Television with English translation.
The news bulletins are being carried on Channel 4’s website under the banner “North Korea Uncovered” and begin with the news from October 14.
“North Korea Uncovered: a rare chance to watch North Korean television news,” the caption for the first bulletin reads.
They are accompanied by other reports in the series including a look at the country’s first ski resort by Swiss journalist Marc Wolfenberger.
The daily newscast has been available online for several years through More >
Associated Press names new Pyongyang bureau chief
Oct 16th
Eric Talmadge, Pyongyang bureau chief for the Associated Press.
The Associated Press has named Eric Talmadge as the new chief of its Pyongyang bureau.
Talmadge was previously a news editor for the AP in Tokyo and also wrote on regional military and security issues. He is a long-time Asia correspondent for the New York-based newswire.
Most recently, he accompanied AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt on his four-day trip to Pyongyang. Talmadge filed the main story to come out of the trip, which was an interview with Kim Yong Nam, president of the country’s parliament.
With Talmadge’s appointment, previous bureau chief Jean Lee will move to More >
AP president concludes latest visit to Pyongyang
Oct 10th
Gary Pruitt, president and CEO of the Associated Press
The president and CEO of the Associated Press, Gary Pruitt, just concluded a four-day visit to Pyongyang during which he toured the city and sat down for an interview with Kim Yong Nam, president of the country’s parliament.
The visit was the first reported trip to North Korea for Pruitt, who took over as CEO of the AP just over a year earlier.
The AP became the first western news agency to open a text and photo bureau in Pyongyang in January 2012 and AP executives have made several visits to the country.
Former AP More >
Pyongyang gets 3D movies
Sep 17th
Could North Korea be on the cusp of a 3D movie boom? A movie theater capable of showing 3D motion pictures has been built at Pyongyang’s Rungna People’s Pleasure Park, according to a weekend report by the state-run Korea Central News Agency.
The theater, which also includes video game rooms, was inspected recently by Kim Jong Un, who called for similar theaters to be built across the country, the report said.
Movies were a passion of Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il. He is said to have had a massive collection of movies that spanned the the classics to modern films More >
Minju Joson criticizes U.S. spy satellite launch
Sep 16th
North Korea’s Minju Joson newspaper on Saturday criticized the recent launch of a new spy satellite by the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, according to a report on the state-run Korea Central News Agency.
The classified satellite, called NROL-65, was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on August 28 into an orbit that is used by spy satellites.
Not much is known about the satellite, but it’s thought to be the latest addition to the Keyhole constellation of reconnaissance satellites. As such, it will likely strengthen the ability of the U.S. intelligence community to look into North Korea.
Thus, the Minju Joson isn’t More >
WRN adds satellite-fed Voice of Korea broadcasts
Jul 23rd
High-quality recordings of Voice of Korea programs are now available on-demand via the London-based World Radio Network.
Voice of Korea is North Korea’s international radio broadcaster.
WRN, which rebroadcasts international radio stations, previously experimented with offering Voice of Korea shortwave programs, but the quality of the reception was poor and the service ended a few weeks ago with no explanation.
Now it’s back and the quality is better than ever.
WRN is carrying the 57 minute daily broadcast of Voice of Korea in English, Arabic, Chinese, French and Russian. Each program includes the daily news, features on life in North Korea, the exploits of More >
Some North Korean external radio, jamming reportedly off air
Jul 22nd
Numerous broadcasts of North Korea’s external radio service and some of the country’s jamming of foreign radio stations has been off air in the last few days, according to several reports.
Voice of Korea, which broadcasts in several languages on shortwave to audiences outside of the country, missed many of its scheduled transmissions on July 20 and July 21.
On a typical day the station uses as many as eight transmitters simultaneously to beam its programming around the world, but on July 20 a radio monitor in Bulgaria noted only had two on the air at any one time. A day later, on July More >
South Korea’s jamming of North Korean radio
Jul 13th
Tuning into Pyongyang Broadcasting Station on 657kHz in Paju, South Korea.
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 South Korean eyes away from sites like the Korean Central News Agency and Rodong Sinmun, but what about radio waves that travel freely across the border?
It turns out the South Korean government doesn’t want its people More >
