We Need More Radio

Wars are fought by more than guns and bombs

Increasing radio broadcasting about world events and supporting Korean defector groups are key ways to empower the North Korea people, says Jay Lefkowitz, U.S. special envoy for human rights in North Korea.

The propaganda used by Kim Jong Il to suppress his people can be countered only by access to information about the outside world and the truth about conditions in North Korea, Lefkowitz told a joint hearing of the House International Relations subcommittees on Asia and the Pacific and on Africa, Global Human Rights, and International Operations April 27.

Although radios are controlled by the regime and fixed to a single propaganda channel, there is evidence from North Korean defectors that indicate the number of radios smuggled from abroad might have increased substantially, Lefkowitz said.

He cited a National Endowment for Democracy program to train North Korean defectors and South Korean democracy activists in journalism and broadcasting standards so they can broadcast into the North.

“We support this project and view it as a possible precursor to a more robust broadcast platform that creates an open window to North Korea,” Lefkowitz said.

With more information, the North Korean people increasingly will learn that just to the south there is a vibrant and free democracy, he said. North Koreans also will learn that they do not live in a socialist paradise.

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