ID :
211538
Thu, 10/06/2011 - 12:32
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/211538
The shortlink copeid
Thousand N. Koreans punished for watching foreign media last year: report
SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Yonhap) -- North Korea arrested more than 1,000 people last year for possessing or watching foreign films and television programs, a U.S. human rights body said.
Freedom House said in a report posted on its Web site that the North Koreans acquired the foreign materials on the black market through smugglers from China.
The report did not give details on how it obtained the information. It is nearly impossible to independently confirm information on one of the world's most isolated countries.
The Washington-based advocacy group said North Korea remained the most repressive media environment in the world in 2010.
North Korea forbids its 24 million people from watching foreign broadcasts and any other foreign video materials out of fear that the influx of outside influences could pose a threat to leader Kim Jong-il.
North Koreans face harsh punishments, including hard labor, prison sentences, and the death penalty for listening to foreign broadcasts and possessing dissident publications.
Still, a growing number of North Koreans are believed to be secretly watching or listening to South Korean television and radio broadcasts as well as other foreign radio broadcasts, according to experts and North Korean defectors.
The Freedom House report comes as North Korea threatened to launch a "merciless punishment" against South Korea for its psychological warfare against it.
On Wednesday, North Korea' state media accused South Korea of airing anti-North Korean television and radio broadcasts via the frequency currently being used by the North for its own broadcasts.
Freedom House said in a report posted on its Web site that the North Koreans acquired the foreign materials on the black market through smugglers from China.
The report did not give details on how it obtained the information. It is nearly impossible to independently confirm information on one of the world's most isolated countries.
The Washington-based advocacy group said North Korea remained the most repressive media environment in the world in 2010.
North Korea forbids its 24 million people from watching foreign broadcasts and any other foreign video materials out of fear that the influx of outside influences could pose a threat to leader Kim Jong-il.
North Koreans face harsh punishments, including hard labor, prison sentences, and the death penalty for listening to foreign broadcasts and possessing dissident publications.
Still, a growing number of North Koreans are believed to be secretly watching or listening to South Korean television and radio broadcasts as well as other foreign radio broadcasts, according to experts and North Korean defectors.
The Freedom House report comes as North Korea threatened to launch a "merciless punishment" against South Korea for its psychological warfare against it.
On Wednesday, North Korea' state media accused South Korea of airing anti-North Korean television and radio broadcasts via the frequency currently being used by the North for its own broadcasts.
