[USFK Forums] U.S.-based radio station plans to air New Year message to N. Korea [AP]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Thursday, December 29, 2005

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Wednesday December 28, 2005

U.S.-based radio station plans to air New Year messages to North Korea

SEOUL(AP) , South Korea: A U.S.-based South Korean group said Wednesday that it plans to broadcast New Year messages to North Korea beginning next week to foster reconciliation with the communist nation.

Open Radio for North Korea, based in Washington, said it will air messages from North Korean defectors as well as foreigners for seven days beginning Jan. 1.

The station, funded privately by North Korean defectors and South Koreans, has been airing daily programs to North Korea for one hour after midnight (1500 GMT) since being launched this month.

"South and North Koreans need to communicate for inter-Korean reconciliation but there are barriers,'' Young Howard, the South Korean who heads the station, told The Associated Press. "Though limited, we plan to convey the voices of South Koreans through radio.''

North Koreans are officially banned from listening to outside news and radios are rigged so only state programs can be heard.

Listening to radio broadcasts criticizing the regime is a severe offense which has landed people in the country's harsh political prison camps.

Despite the risks, defectors have confirmed that some North Koreans have radios that can pick up foreign programs.

Howard said the North has eased punishment in recent years for people caught listening to unauthorized broadcasts. He added that the station will accept messages calling for political change, but not any advocating violence.

North Korea says outside radio broadcasts are part of a U.S. psychological campaign aimed at toppling the communist regime -- a charge Washington denies. U.S.-financed Radio Free Asia broadcasts to North Korea. --AP