Voice of Korea: June 13, 2018

Live, off-air recording of the Voice of Korea broadcast in English on 13 June 2018, beginning at 18:00 UTC on 15245 kHz. The broadcast was transmitted from Kujang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), with a transmitter power of 200 kW. The broadcast had an antenna beam direction of 325° and was directed to western Europe.   

The news program in the first part of the broadcast has an extensive report on the historic summit meeting in Singapore between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump on 12 June 2018.

The broadcast was received by the Web-interface wideband software-defined radio at the University of Twente in Enschede, The Netherlands, with a "Mini-Whip" antenna in synchronous AM mode with 5.08 kHz total bandwidth RF filtering. Reception of the broadcast was fairly good with some fading and was accompanied by the faint sound of jamming, likely originating from the same transmitter plant that is used to jam broadcasts from the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and other countries, and is likely due to a technical fault.

Voice of Korea (English) and Voice of America: June 13, 2018

Voice of Korea, DPRK recorded in London, UK on June 13, 2018 at 1300 UTC on the frequency of 15245 kHz using a Tecsun PL-310 radio with a clip-on long wire antenna. In this broadcast, the official announcement is made regarding Kim Jong Un's meeting with the US president, Donald Trump, in Singapore. The transmitter has a power rating of 200 kW and is located in Kujang, DPRK. One hour into the recording, the radio was tuned upwards into the frequency of 15580 kHz to record the news bulletin from the Voice of America. The transmitter of the latter station is located in Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana and has a power rating of 100 kW.

Voice of Korea – Panmunjom Summit: April 28, 2018

Live, off-air recording of the Voice of Korea broadcast in English on 28 April 2018, beginning at 13:30 UTC on 13760 kHz. The broadcast was transmitted from Kujang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), with a transmitter power of 200 kW. The broadcast had an antenna beam direction of 325°.   

The news program in the first part of the program has an extensive report on the historic summit meeting in Panmunjom between Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in on 27 April 2018.

The broadcast was received by the Web-interface wideband software-defined radio at the University of Twente in Enschede, The Netherlands, with a "Mini-Whip" antenna in synchronous AM mode with 5.08 kHz total bandwidth RF filtering. Reception of the broadcast was quite good with some fading and was accompanied by the sound of jamming, likely originating from the same transmitter plant that is used to jam broadcasts from the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and other countries, and is likely due to a technical fault. There was also some minor interference from a China Radio International transmission on 13755 kHz up until about 14:00 UTC.
 

Propaganda from the source: Listening to the Voice of Korea on shortwave radio

One of the countries dominating the headlines of global news lately is North Korea. As Kim Jong-un raises tensions and rattles his nuclear saber, the rest of the world is attempting to determine if this is a egotistical show of power for the benefit of all observers (as with previous leaders) or if there is real intention behind the rhetoric. Just this morning Pyongyang has warned that Tokyo would be a primary strike target if war were to break out, or if their test missile is downed; they've even moved their missile launch pad into position.

Regardless of outcome of these provocations, I know that the bulk of the North Korean population will suffer. North Korean mainstream "news" consists of images of military parades in the immaculate capital city of Pyongyang; but the reality is that most of the population live in rural North Korea, which is subject to severe food shortages and extreme poverty.

We know North Korea is a country that carefully controls and manipulates their media internally; they also broadcast the same flavor of propaganda externally on shortwave radio via the Voice of Korea.

As shortwave radio listeners, we have the distinct advantage of being able to listen directly to the case of North Korea. We can actually hear (and analyze for ourselves) the North Korea propaganda directly from the source. Note that it's not uncommon for the Voice of Korea to unexpectedly go off air, likely due to power shortages: this fact is much more suggestive of the of general conditions in the country than the "news" itself.

Depending on where you live in the world, your ability to hear the (relatively weak) Voice of Korea will vary.  If you live in the Asia/Pacific region, the station is very audible.

Yesterday morning at 10:00 UTC, I recorded an hour of their English broadcast to South America on 11.71 MHz. You can download an mp3 of the recording by clicking here, or simply listen via the embedded player below.

Below, you'll also find the current broadcast schedule for the Voice of Korea English service courtesy of North Korea Tech:

VOK English (time in UTC)

• 04:00 on 7220, 9445, 9730 kHz to Northeast Asia
• 04: 00 on 11735, 13760, 15180 kHzto Central & South America
• 05:00 on 13650, 15105 kHzto Southeast Asia
• 06:00 on 7220, 9445, 9730 kHzto Northeast Asia
• 10:00 on 11710, 15180 kHzto Central & South America
• 10:00 on 11735, 13650 kHzto Southeast Asia
• 13:00 on 13760, 15245 kHzto Western Europe
• 13:00 on 9435, 11710 kHzto North America
• 15:00 on 13760, 15245 kHzto Western Europe
• 15:00 on 9435, 11710 kHzto North America
• 16:00 on 9890, 11645 kHzto Near & Middle East; North Africa
• 18:00 on 13760, 15245 kHzto Western Europe
• 19:00 on 7210, 11910 kHzto South Africa
• 19:00 on 9875, 11635 kHzto Near & Middle East; North Africa
• 21:00 on 13760, 15245 kHzto Western Europe

For a full schedule of the Voice of Korea, please visit this page on North Korea Tech.