[Spooks] North Korea Resumes Jamming Broadcasts

[Al Fansome]

May 24, 2007
North Korea Resumes Jamming Broadcasts
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 8:43 a.m. ET

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Communist North Korea has resumed jamming short 
wave radio broadcasts from outside the country after a break of several 
months, an international media watchdog group said.

The reclusive country has been trying to block such broadcasts -- by groups 
such as the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia -- for nearly half a 
century, but the jamming had been in substantial decline since last July, 
Reporters Without Borders said in a statement released Wednesday.

On May 11, however, North Korea began stepping up its jamming of independent 
and dissident broadcasts. The group denounced the jamming as a ''violation 
of international law.''

''The Pyongyang regime is trying to stop North Koreans from getting news 
other than that served up by the regime,'' said the Paris-based 
organization, which champions the cause of free media.

Human rights activists and groups critical of North Korea's totalitarian 
regime have tried for decades to influence public opinion in the isolated 
country by bombarding it with propaganda and news broadcasts.

Last month, North Korea denounced news from the outside world as aimed at 
destabilizing the regime and ordered tougher restrictions on videocassettes, 
written material, cell phones and CDs entering the country, Reporters 
Without Borders said.

The new crackdown may be linked to last week's test run of train service 
between the divided Koreas, the first time trains had crossed the heavily 
fortified frontier since the 1950-53 Korean War, the group said.

The statement did not explain why North Korea's jamming started to decline 
last year, but it said that serious energy shortages in the poverty stricken 
country have prevented round-the-clock interference of all frequencies.

Targeted broadcasts include those from Free North Korea Radio, Voice of 
America, Open Radio for North Korea, Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Chosun 
-- all based in South Korea or the United States, the group said.

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