The British Broadcasting Corporation(BBC) will launch a regular shortwave radio
service into North Korea in April next year.
Aired by the public
broadcaster’s World Service network, the broadcast in the Korean language will
offer news updates from the Korean Peninsula and around the world. An English
conversation lecture will also be part of the program.
As the program
targets audiences in the North, the BBC will create a broadcasting crew with
North Korean defectors who are familiar with North Korea's culture and accent.
Currently, the broadcaster is known to be training five North Korean escapees
living in Britain.
A BBC insider said that the British broadcaster will
be able to help promote the opening of North Korea through the radio service, as
its programs played a important role in the demise of communist Eastern
Europe.
The North's communist regime has been opposing the BBC’s plan
through various channels. Analysts say that the delayed launch of the service
may be related to Pyongyang’s opposition. The radio service was initially
scheduled to begin this fall.
