North Korea access to outside media up, says US study

[xomputer]

North Koreans have more access than ever to outside media, including radio, TV and DVDs, a study has found.

The government was unable to maintain a ''total monopoly'' over information and the people's ''understanding of the world is changing'', said the report.
Viewing of foreign DVDs in North Korea, especially, had risen sharply.
Most of these DVDs were South Korean dramas, and had been smuggled across the border with China, said the report, commissioned by the US government.
"When you get very well-produced, compelling South Korean dramas - a picture into a place that you've been fascinated with your whole life, because so much North Korean propaganda revolves around South Korea - that's extremely powerful," said Nat Kretchun, one of the authors of the study.
The study was conducted by global consulting group InterMedia over the last two years.
The findings were based on a survey of 250 North Koreans - mostly refugees and a handful of travellers, as well as expert interviews.
Most North Koreans do not have access to foreign media, but those who do appear to be rising Almost half the respondents said they had watched a foreign DVD.
North Korea has traditionally been ranked as the country with the lowest media freedom in the world.
While the majority of North Koreans still did not have direct access to foreign media, the number of those who did ''appears to be steadily increasing'', the report said.
North Koreans are also ''less fearful of sharing that information than before'', it said.
Near the border with China and South Korea television viewing is also popular, with a third who said they watched TV claiming to have viewed foreign broadcasts.
Foreign radio broadcasts, the report added, ''remain important as a source of real-time, sensitive outside news''.
The ''elites'' - those with greater financial means or influence - have more access to external sources of media.
Recently, the report found, devices such as computers, USB drives and illegal Chinese mobile phones ''have begun entering North Korea in substantial numbers, especially among the elite''.
However, a personal network - well-connected friends and ''word-of-mouth'' - remain the most trusted source of unsanctioned information among those the study interviewed.
The increased access to external sources of information could lead North Koreans to view their own government with a more critical eye, the report concluded. ''While significant bottom-up pressure on the regime is unlikely in the short term, many people in North Korea are beginning to look more critically at the basic premises of their country's power structure and policies,'' it said.

ONLINE - International News Network

 

[LaughAtTheWorld]

That's old news. With the streaming of illegal media from the lightly guarded Chinese borders (yes, illegal cellphones mean hand-made phones) from porn to K-pop increasing daily, the NK government's control of media and information (which is the very foundation of maintaining power) is getting loose. Don't get hopes high though, most of that information is mostly garbage for entertainment purposes, and the spread of dissent and free exchange of information is far from being realized.
The NK military, while grossly incompetent, outdated, underfed, and under-equipped, still can very much brutally oppress dissent in its own country.

 

[lpast]

That's old news. With the streaming of illegal media from the lightly guarded Chinese borders (yes, illegal cellphones mean hand-made phones) from porn to K-pop increasing daily, the NK government's control of media and information (which is the very foundation of maintaining power) is getting loose. Don't get hopes high though, most of that information is mostly garbage for entertainment purposes, and the spread of dissent and free exchange of information is far from being realized.
The NK military, while grossly incompetent, outdated, underfed, and under-equipped, still can very much brutally oppress dissent in its own country.

One day in NK there will be a successful coup...whether it topples the regime or not...one that will shake them up, like whats happened in the middleeast, with khadafi and Syria and Mubarek of egypt.
The NKs cant possibly be blind forever to how much better the SKs live and what they have compared to their nothing

 

[Helix]

if the world wanted to liberate that country, pretty much all it would take is daily drops of smartphones.

the people of NK probably know they're being fed bull****, but i'm not sure they realize quite how deep it is.

 

[LaughAtTheWorld]

One day in NK there will be a successful coup...whether it topples the regime or not...one that will shake them up, like whats happened in the middleeast, with khadafi and Syria and Mubarek of egypt.
The NKs cant possibly be blind forever to how much better the SKs live and what they have compared to their nothing

Oh, I'm not dismissing the possibility of a coup. Either one inspired by the people or by some members of the government will happen, but I think one that happens by members of the government is much more likely, like Badgolio's (though he was an incompetent asshole). More easy spread of information, they already know the brutality of the regime, and have more power than a couple thousands of starving peasants, no matter how heroic they may be.
I'm just pointing out that it will take decades more.
(PS: NK already admitted to how SK is more wealthy due to the flood of South Korean soap operas, but still say they are better by having "racial purity")

 

[lpast]

Oh, I'm not dismissing the possibility of a coup. Either one inspired by the people or by some members of the government will happen, but I think one that happens by members of the government is much more likely, like Badgolio's (though he was an incompetent asshole). More easy spread of information, they already know the brutality of the regime, and have more power than a couple thousands of starving peasants, no matter how heroic they may be.
I'm just pointing out that it will take decades more.
(PS: NK already admitted to how SK is more wealthy due to the flood of South Korean soap operas, but still say they are better by having "racial purity")

If other govt officials take over...it wont get much better for the people there....its amazing how theres this imaginary line drawn...on one side you have thriving productive economy, with its people living as well as any other country on the planet...and the other side the people living destitute and hungry and oppressed....and they are all of the same kind...Koreans....sad if you think about it

 

[Surtr]

That's old news. With the streaming of illegal media from the lightly guarded Chinese borders (yes, illegal cellphones mean hand-made phones) from porn to K-pop increasing daily, the NK government's control of media and information (which is the very foundation of maintaining power) is getting loose. Don't get hopes high though, most of that information is mostly garbage for entertainment purposes, and the spread of dissent and free exchange of information is far from being realized.
The NK military, while grossly incompetent, outdated, underfed, and under-equipped, still can very much brutally oppress dissent in its own country.

I'm honestly surprised that they haven't just created gobs of mindless entertainment, in order to keep their citizenry occupied, instead of even giving them a chance to think about how everything there is so ****ed.

 

[Khayembii Communique]

if the world wanted to liberate that country, pretty much all it would take is daily drops of smartphones.

Yes, because the people of North Korea are completely oblivious to their current situation without the help of smart, benevolent white..er, westerners.

The North Korean state hasn't collapsed because it works. Hate it if you want, call it immoral, genocidal, whatever, but it's a fact that regardless of any of that, it works. And it works not only because of the intense centralization of power but also because it serves its necessary purpose for a significant section of the North Korean population, just like how the USSR served its necessary purpose for many urban dwellers, factory workers and so on.