Voice of Korea


Voice of Korea is the international broadcasting service of North Korea. It broadcasts primarily information in Chinese, Spanish, German, English, French, Russian, Japanese, and Arabic. Until 2002 it was known as Radio Pyongyang. The interval signal is identical to that of Korean Central Television.

History

The origins of Voice of Korea can be traced to 1936 and the radio station JBBK. Operated by the occupying Japanese forces, JBBK broadcast a first and second program as part of Japan's radio network that covered the Korean Peninsula from Seoul.
The station was founded in October 1945 as Radio Pyongyang, and officially inaugurated programming on the 14th, with a live broadcast of the victory speech of Kim Il-sung when he returned to Pyongyang at the end of World War II.
The first foreign broadcast was in Chinese on 16 March 1947. Japanese-language broadcasts began in 1950, followed by English, French and Russian, Spanish, Arabic, and German.
By 1960, Radio Pyongyang broadcast 159 hours of programming every week. In 1970, weekly broadcasting hours totaled 330 hours and by 1980, 597 hours. In 1990 weekly broadcasting time fell to 534 hours per week, 529 in 1994, and 364 in 1996.
In 2002, the station was renamed Voice of Korea.

Programming

Unlike most international broadcasters, Voice of Korea does not broadcast an interval signal in the minutes leading up to the start of the transmission. It instead starts broadcasting the interval signal on the hour.
A typical program line-up begins with the interval signal, followed by the station announcement "This is Voice of Korea". After the announcement, the national anthem, "Song of General Kim Il-sung" and "Song of General Kim Jong-il" are played. The songs are followed by a news broadcast consisting of Korean Central News Agency items with small adjustments for the radio. If there are any items about Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il or Kim Jong-un, these are the top bulletins.
The news items are typically one day behind the news of the domestic service Korean Central Broadcasting Station. The news is followed by music and an excerpt from Kim Il-sung's memoirs With the Century. After the memoirs, there is more music and feature stories, sometimes followed by an editorial. The 57-minute broadcast concludes with frequency information and a sign-off message.
In the past, the station broadcast coded messages to North Korean spies. This practice ended with the 2000 June 15th North–South Joint Declaration. In 2006 Voice of Korea started broadcasting on the same frequency as the Lincolnshire Poacher numbers station. It is unknown whether this was an intentional effort to frustrate the Poacher's operators or an accident, as it is not unknown for Voice of Korea to unintentionally jam its own signal by transmitting programmes in different languages simultaneously on the same frequency.

Broadcasting

Voice of Korea broadcasts on HF or shortwave radio frequencies, as well as on medium wave for broadcasts aimed at neighboring countries. Some frequencies are well out of the ITU-allocated shortwave broadcast bands, making them less susceptible to interference and less likely to be listenable on older receivers. Recently, it has increased the share of satellite broadcasting.
Most of the broadcasts are transmitted from the Kujang shortwave transmitter site, approximately 25 km from the city of Kujang. A transmitter site in Kanggye is used as well. A site in Pyongyang is also in use.
On occasion, Voice of Korea has missed its regular service. The interruptions have not been explained by Voice of Korea, but they are thought to be due to engineering works at the transmitter sites, faulty equipment or because of power outages. In 2012 they occurred when the country was facing one of its worst electricity shortages in years. The off-air periods also affect North Korea's own jamming signals designed to prevent reception of South Korean stations such as Echo of Hope, Voice of the People, and KBS Hanminjok Radio.
Voice of Korea broadcasts on the Thaicom 5 satellite with Korean Central Broadcasting Station and Korean Central Television.

Schedules

This is a list of broadcasts of Voice of Korea by language as of August 2019. All times are in UTC.

Arabic

All Arabic broadcasts are transmitted from Kujang.
StartsEndsFrequencies Target area
15:0015:579890, 11645Middle East and North Africa
17:0017:579890, 11645Middle East and North Africa

Chinese

All Chinese broadcasts are transmitted from Kujang.
StartsEndsFrequencies Target area
21:0021:579875, 11635China
22:0023:579875, 11635China
05:0005:577220, 9445, 9730Northeast Asia
08:0008:577220, 9445Northeast Asia
11:0011:577220, 9445Northeast Asia
21:0021:577235, 9445Northeast Asia
22:0021:577235, 9445Northeast Asia
13:0013:5711735, 13650Southeast Asia
03:3004:2713650, 15105Southeast Asia
06:3007:2713650, 15105Southeast Asia

English

All English broadcasts are transmitted from Kujang.
StartsEndsFrequencies Target area
04:0004:5711735, 13760, 15180Central and South America
10:0010:5711710, 15180Central and South America
13:0013:5713760, 15245Europe
15:0015:5713760, 15245Europe
18:0018:5713760, 15245Europe
21:0021:5713760, 15245Europe
16:0016:579890, 11645Middle East and Northern Africa
19:0019:579875, 11635Middle East and Northern Africa
13:0013:579435, 11710North America
15:0015:579435, 11710North America
04:0004:577220, 9445, 9730Northeast Asia
06:0006:577220, 9445, 9730Northeast Asia
19:0019:577210, 11910Southern Africa
05:0005:5713650, 15105Southeast Asia
10:0010:5711735, 13650Southeast Asia

French

All French broadcasts are transmitted from Kujang.
StartsEndsFrequencies Target area
06:0006:5711735, 13760, 15180Central and South America
11:0011:5711710, 15180Central and South America
14:0014:5713760, 15245Europe
16:0016:5713760, 15245Europe
20:0020:5713760, 15245Europe
14:0014:579435, 11710North America
16:0016:579435, 11710North America
04:0004:5713650, 15105Southeast Asia
11:0011:5711735, 13650Southeast Asia
18:0018:577210, 11910Southern Africa
18:0018:579875, 11635West and Central Africa

German

All German broadcasts are transmitted from Kujang.
StartsEndsFrequencies Target area
16:0016:579425, 12015Europe
18:0018:579425, 12015Europe
19:0019:579425, 12015Europe

Japanese

All Japanese broadcasts are transmitted from Kujang, except 621 kHz and 6070 kHz broadcasts, which are transmitted from Chongjin-Ranam and Kanggye respectively.
StartsEndsFrequencies Target area
07:0007:57621, 9650, 11865Japan
08:0008:50621, 9650, 11865Japan
09:0009:57621, 6070, 9650, 11865Japan
10:0010:50621, 6070, 9650, 11865Japan
11:0011:57621, 6070, 9650, 11865Japan
12:0012:50621, 6070, 9650, 11865Japan
21:0021:50621, 9650, 11865Japan
22:0022:57621, 9650, 11865Japan
23:0023:50621, 9650, 11865Japan

Russian

All Russian broadcasts are transmitted from Kujang.
StartsEndsFrequencies Target area
07:0007:5713760, 15245European Russia
08:0008:5713760, 15245European Russia
14:0014:579425, 12015European Russia
15:0015:579425, 12015European Russia
17:0017:579425, 12015European Russia
07:0007:579875, 11735Far Eastern Russia
08:0008:579875, 11735Far Eastern Russia

Spanish

All Spanish broadcasts are transmitted from Kujang.
StartsEndsFrequencies Target area
03:0003:5711735, 13760, 15180Central and South America
05:0005:5711735, 13760, 15180Central and South America
19:0019:5713760, 15245Europe
22:0022:5713760, 15245Europe

Works cited