Breaking the News: Assessing the Impact of Foreign Media in North Korea

Just how easy (or difficult) is it for North Koreans to watch banned American movies or listen to Korean-language news broadcasts that Pyongyang spends a great deal of time condemning and resources trying to block?  The North Korean border has become increasingly porous, with news reports suggesting that American and South Korean films have become so popular that the North Korean authorities have been forced to issue edicts on the length of men’s hair, for example.  At the same time, several American, South Korean and Japanese radio stations are targeting North Korea through short and medium-wave broadcasts.  A growing number of defectors report having tasted such forbidden fruit before leaving North Korea.  To what extent is banned media undermining the regime’s control of the flow of information?  Do such broadcasts encourage North Koreans to defect?

Peter M. Beck is the 2009-10 Pantech Fellow at Stanford University’s Asia Pacific Research Center.  He also teaches at American University in Washington, D.C. and Ewha Woman's University in Seoul.  He also writes a monthly column for Weekly Chosun and The Korea Herald.  Previously, he was the executive director of the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea and directed the International Crisis Group’s Northeast Asia Project in Seoul.  He was also the Director of Research and Academic Affairs at the Korea Economic Institute in Washington.  He has published over 100 academic and short articles and testified before Congress.