One of the key tenets of bringing change in North Korea is by fighting the information war. Radio broadcasts serve as a means to counter all the anti-US propaganda that North Koreans are fed on a daily basis and the effectiveness of these radio broadcasts can be proven by how some North Korean defectors, such as Kang Chol-hwan decided to defect after listening to these broadcasts.

In a good sign, the US has agreed to increase radio broadcasts into the country to fight this information war. A sign of how concerned the North Korean regime is about these radio broadcasts is that they are currently attempting to jam them:

Reporters Without Borders, an international organization of journalists, said Thursday that North Korea strengthened jamming of radio broadcasting from outside in May of last year.

The organization said in an annual report that the jamming had been weak since July 2006 due to the North’s power shortages, but that it became stronger on May 11th, 2007.

The group said that due to the strengthened jamming, signals from five radio broadcasts toward North Korea, including Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, are being jammed. [KBS Global]

Let’s hope that both Radio Free Asia and Voice of America are taking countermeasures to break through the North Korean jamming.

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