Monday, February 09, 2009

Committed to get information to North Korea

Kim Seong-min, who runs Free North Korea Radio based in Seoul, was sharing the experience of his clandestine radio broadcasts with members of exiled media from Burma, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Gambia, Belarus, Zimbabwe, Tunisia and Iran.

"You need a North Korean accent to be credible and convincing," explained Kim Seong-min. He said the voice of a South Korean announcer does not work as it would be viewed automatically as propaganda.

In the past five years, the radio station has been condemned by the North Korean government 21 times, including several assassination attempts and bombing threats against him and his office.

Kim told about his escape from North Korea's army and the transformation he went through to become a radio journalist. "When I was in the army, I listened to foreign broadcasts.”

He defected to South Korea via China in 1999. "We have families and relatives inside. We want to give them information from this side."

[The Nation – Thailand]

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