I have been following this organization run by Mr. Kim Seong-Min and Suzanne Scholte. “Since 2006, Free North Korea Radio has broadcasted into North Korea. Voiced and produced by North Korean defectors now living in South Korea, we broadcast news, information, and hope into North Korea.”
This is the profile of Mr. Kim Seong-Min on their site:
“When we started, I thought, if just one person, just one North Korean was listening, that would be good enough,” Kim said. “But it’s not just one person.” – Kim Seong-Min, in an interview with CNN
“Seong-Min was born in Jagang Province, and raised in Pyongyang, DPRK. He enlisted in the DPRK army in 1978 and served for 10 years until he was accepted to Kim Hyung-jik College of Education as a commissioned officer student. After completing the program, he was stationed at the 620th Training Camp Art Propaganda Unit as a propaganda writer. Seong-Min defected in 1996 when it was discovered that he had been in contact with his uncle in South Korea and was going to be arrested for this “crime.” He fled to China, but has arrested and repatriated. As North Korean authorities were taking him by train to Pyongyang where he was to be publicly executed for leaving the country without permission, he managed to jump from the train and escape again. He finally made it to South Korea in 1999.
After resettling in South Korea, he finished his master’s degree in Literature at Joongang University, and Doctorate program in Myungji University. Seong-Min always desired to be a poet, but never forgetting those he left behind in South Korea, he has devoted his life to their freedom and human rights. He has become one of the most active North Korean defectors, serving as the president of North Korean Defectors’ Organization and deputy director of the Committee for the Democratization of North Korea. He founded Free North Korea Radio in 2004 because he felt North Koreans did not just need bread, they needed truth. For his work, Seong-Min has received numerous awards including the Reporters Without Borders’ Media Award and the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy’s Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award.”
Check out their new English-language website to learn more about what FNKR has been doing — the impact that they’ve been having, and the power that radio broadcasts has on the world’s most closed society today. For Korean-speakers, check out their Youtube channel for fascinating video content!
Consider making a gift of https://freenorthkorearadio.org/donate-now/ !