{"id":32814,"date":"2018-06-15T06:00:39","date_gmt":"2018-06-15T10:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=32814"},"modified":"2018-06-14T10:45:53","modified_gmt":"2018-06-14T14:45:53","slug":"an-unusual-1990s-reception-report-from-north-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/06\/an-unusual-1990s-reception-report-from-north-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"An unusual 1990s reception report from North Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/north_korean_propaganda.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13591\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/north_korean_propaganda.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"542\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/north_korean_propaganda.jpg 900w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/north_korean_propaganda-300x181.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Many thanks to <em>SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Richard Langley, who spotted this fascinating account in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mayonews.ie\/features\/32199-shortwave-radio-and-the-letter-from-north-korea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Mayo News<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Michael Commins on his remarkable communication from inside North Korea<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>THE Korean peninsula dominates world news coverage this week.<\/p>\n<p>[&#8230;]Around 1988, after becoming engrossed in the hobby, I also bought the acclaimed Sony 2001D shortwave radio from Padraig Gilmore of Gilmore Electrical in Claremorris. Padraig was a genius when it came to radios and he also had a huge interest in shortwave listening.<br \/>\nI recall listening to the last broadcast of Radio Berlin and tuning in on a weekly basis to some favourite shows on The Voice of America, Radio Netherlands, Radio Havana (still broadcasting on 6000khz), Radio Prague, Radio Moscow (with their powerful transmitters on numerous frequencies), Radio Canada International, HCJB from Quito in Ecuador, Vatican Radio, and a host of the stations from around the world.<\/p>\n<p>[&#8230;]On a few occasions, I managed to pick up the English language broadcast of Radio Pyongyang from North Korea (Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea). I posted some reception reports to them and got back their radio schedules and QSL cards as well as some cultural material.<\/p>\n<p>One day in the 1990s, I received an extraordinary letter from a person at the international radio station in North Korea. It was smuggled out of the country and posted in Japan. There was no internet and no Facebook back then. Shortwave radio was the only way to get news broadcast across thousands of miles.<\/p>\n<p>Today, for the first time I reveal some of the contents of the letter but am still reluctant to state the date I received the letter (which I wrote on the back of it) \u2026 just in case.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some extracts:<br \/>\n\u201cI am writing this letter to tell you we are tired of repeating the same programs all the year round. We may deal with fresh information when we air the news about foreign countries, but when we are told to air radio commentaries we in most cases try to search similar programs we had once aired previously.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the safest way to be faithful to our duty because we are told to quote some phrases from the remarks of our Great Leader Kim II Sung or Dear Leader Kim Jong II whenever we draft the manuscript of the commentaries. This is why we have been repeating the same tones for years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo freedom of speech nor of association exists in my country. You will never notice any dark side of our society when you listen to our radio programs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reality of my country is that the people, especially those living outside of Pyongyang are suffering from the severe shortages of food and daily commodities. They are urged to engage in the campaign to take two meals, instead of three meals, a day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think our closed-door policy will last forever, and sometime, in the future and all of a sudden the people will rise up against the government. I think now is the time for the intellectuals to come to the rescue of our fatherland\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>This letter has been kept safe and sound over the years, between the covers of \u2018The Moscow Correspondents\u2019, a fine book by Whitman Bassow, former Moscow Bureau Chief of Newsweek, which provides wonderful insights into the USSR over generations.[&#8230;]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mayonews.ie\/features\/32199-shortwave-radio-and-the-letter-from-north-korea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here to read the full story at The Mayo News.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who spotted this fascinating account in The Mayo News: Michael Commins on his remarkable communication from inside North Korea THE Korean peninsula dominates world news coverage this week. [&#8230;]Around 1988, after becoming engrossed in the hobby, I also bought the acclaimed Sony 2001D shortwave radio from Padraig [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,288,43],"tags":[7117,474,248,3516,7118,728],"class_list":["post-32814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-radio-history","category-shortwave-radio","tag-michael-commins","tag-north-korea","tag-qsl","tag-richard-langley","tag-the-mayo-news","tag-vok"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-8xg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14919,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/09\/could-radio-be-a-catalyst-for-revolution-in-north-korea\/","url_meta":{"origin":32814,"position":0},"title":"Could radio be a catalyst for revolution in North Korea?","author":"Thomas","date":"September 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley for sharing this article from The Guardian. The following is an excerpt: Kim Cheol-su, who was born in Pyongsong City and defected from North Korea last year, says that up to 30-40% of DPRK citizens now listen to pirate radio, and that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"north_korean_propaganda","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/north_korean_propaganda.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/north_korean_propaganda.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/north_korean_propaganda.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/north_korean_propaganda.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31808,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/propaganda-shift-the-panmunjom-summit-and-monitoring-the-voice-of-korea\/","url_meta":{"origin":32814,"position":1},"title":"Propaganda Shift: The Panmunjom Summit and monitoring the Voice of Korea","author":"Thomas","date":"April 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"With North Korea in the global spotlight, I've been making every effort to listen to the Voice of Korea on shortwave.\u00a0 Unfortunately, from here on the east coast of North America, conditions have simply not been in my favor. Fortunately, a couple of\u00a0SWLing Post and SRAA contributors have had my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/North-Korea-Newspaper.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/North-Korea-Newspaper.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/North-Korea-Newspaper.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18279,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/voice-of-justice-broadcasts-to-north-america\/","url_meta":{"origin":32814,"position":2},"title":"Voice of Justice broadcasts to North America?","author":"Thomas","date":"April 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who comments: It seems that the VOIRI \"Voice of Justice\" broadcast to North America may have been axed. [I] did a quick search on that phrase in the [Shortwave Radio Audio Archive] but came up empty. Might be nice if someone with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SX-99-Dial-Nar","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SX-99-Dial-Nar.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SX-99-Dial-Nar.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SX-99-Dial-Nar.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SX-99-Dial-Nar.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18848,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/listening-to-the-link-via-shortwave-service\/","url_meta":{"origin":32814,"position":3},"title":"Listening to The Link via Shortwave Service?","author":"Thomas","date":"May 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"As we mentioned in a post last month, Radio Canada International's program \"The Link\" is now being broadcast via Shortwave Service in Germany. If you've been listening to The Link via shortwave, SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, encourages you to send\u00a0RCI a short listener report. You can either send a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"TheLinkRCI","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/TheLinkRCI.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10339,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/07\/voa-and-rfa-via-homemade-radios-in-north-korea\/","url_meta":{"origin":32814,"position":4},"title":"VOA and RFA via homemade radios in North Korea","author":"Thomas","date":"July 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Anil, for sharing this article regarding the importance and inspiration radio provides to many North Koreans. This comes from our favorite North Korea independent news site, NK News. Here's a quote from the article from a North Korean defector known as\u00a0\"Park\": \u201cI have been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Clandestine&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Clandestine","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/clandestine\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"FlagNorthKorea","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/FlagNorthKorea1-300x215.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":65200,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2026\/01\/rfa-to-resume-broadcasts-to-north-korea\/","url_meta":{"origin":32814,"position":5},"title":"RFA to resume broadcasts to North Korea","author":"Thomas","date":"January 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Richard Cuff, who highlights a recent Reuters report on Radio Free Asia\u2019s plans to resume Korean-language broadcasts aimed at reaching listeners in North Korea after a period of reduced operations. Radio Free Asia intends to restart weekly radio programming later this month alongside its\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;International Broadcasting&quot;","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/RFA-Radio-Free-Asia-Microphone.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32814\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}