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What media is allowed in North Korea

Whenever I am in need of seeking information, news or entertainment I know that I can access everything in a matter of seconds. I can find different press releases, opinions, use social media and create content of my own without any restrictions (vaguely speaking). However, not everywhere in the world it is possible and one of those countries is North Korea. For me, it is hard to imagine that I might not be able to freely consume different types of media in everyday life, which is the reason why the available media of North Korea raised my attention.

Media in North Korea is one of the most strictly controlled in the world and falls under tight government's control. Even though North Korea states that the citizens have freedom of speech and press, the censorship is strictly enforced in domestic media releases. It is also prohibited to listen to the foreign broadcasts or consume any uncensored media, which is not controlled by the government. So what are the types of media allowed for North Korean citizens and what are the contents in it?

Just like in other countries, also in North Korea, there are mass media sources such as newspapers, broadcasting etc. Also, it is allowed for citizens to have a radio and a TV in their households. Movies are also being released and an International Movie Festival is being held every two years. However, everything is tightly controlled and filled with propaganda, which praises the government. Journalists must follow strict guidelines and are punished even for small spelling mistakes, not mentioning abuse of the censorship. The media praises the country as "paradise on earth". Also, foreign journalists are restricted and many of them are not even permitted to enter.

People watch Ri Chun Hui delivering North Korea's announcement, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016.
North Korean news channel 

The Internet is available in North Korea in a restricted manner and is limited to internet cafes and tourist hotels. However, there are a few websites maintained, which can be seen outside the country. They consist mostly of propaganda, tourism information and also there can be found recipes and films. There is a lot of news about 'Supreme Leader's Activities', but also some websites show that also North Korea has its culture and arts scene. There is a list,  unveiled by a US-based engineer, which reveals less than 30 websites.

North Korean food site

Even though North Korea is tightly controlled, the information leaks from neighboring countries are inevitable and citizens have started to realize that the life outside the country is much different from what the government has thought them. Because of that, there are activists who smuggle illegal media from China and South Korea, such as K-pop and Western movies, even though it means a high risk to their lives.

I personally do not believe in restricting media in such scale and I think that sooner or later the uncensored media flow in North Korea will be inevitable and will grow each year more and more. Even though the most people there do not know any other life than in their country, the word to word communication spreads the news from the outside world, which gets people even more curious and wanting to explore the world outside 'the media walls'.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post, let me know your opinion in the comments!



Used for inspiration:
Saira Asher | BBC News. What the North Korean internet really looks like.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37426725
Matthew Carney | ABC News. Activists smuggling films and music on USB sticks in the secret information war for the minds of North Koreans.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-03/north-korea-activists-sneak-films-music-usb-drives-regime-change/9210928
Wikipedia. Media of North Korea.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_of_North_Korea
Freedom House. Freedom of the Press 2017 | North Korea
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2017/north-korea
Country studies. North Korea - The media. 
http://countrystudies.us/north-korea/64.htm


Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 18, 2018 at 11:10 AM

    This is such an important and interesting topic to know about and I learned a whole bunch reading your post. I became curious about that list of 30 or so North Korean websites that you mentioned so I went and found a list of them. A lot of them are available in English so you can kind of figure out who the real target audience is.

    Here's the link if someone else want's to have a look:

    http://www.northkoreatech.org/the-north-korean-website-list/

    I also quite like the juxtaposition between this and your last weeks topic. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. TeroSeptember 25, 2018 at 8:26 AM

    Very interesting read. I've always been fascinated by North Korea myself. It's such a unique place and the only really completely closed country. I watched a documentary about that movie smuggling in to the country, but I can't remember the name of it right now. Might have been a VICE documentary.

    ReplyDelete

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