Radio France International (Mandarin): May 10, 2002

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Andy Wang, who shares the following recording and notes:

Notes: The content of this recording is a news: North Korean defectors seek asylum from US consulate in Shenyang.

Broadcaster: Radio France Internationale

Date of recording: 5/10/2002

Starting time: 10:00UTC

Frequency: 12.025MHz

Recption location: Shenyang, China

Receiver and antenna: MeiDuo Radio Receiver and Casette Recorder CP6941 with antenna on it

KCBS Sinuiju (North Korea) 873 kHz: October 21, 2021

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Walker, who shares the following recording and notes:

873 kHz KCBS Sinuiju, North Korea at 1633UTC on Thursday, Oct 21, 2021 with instrumental North Korean music. Signal held out pretty decently for over 6 minutes. 250KW 3500 miles.

Receiver location: McGrath, Alaska

Receiver and antenna: C.Crane CC Skywave and Gary DeBock 5" FSL antenna

Radio Pyongyang (Mandarin Service): April 25, 1999

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Andy Wang, who shares the following recording and notes:

DPRK's international radio service was named "Radio Pyongyang" until year 2002. Now it is called "Voice of Korea".

In Chinese, Korean and Japanese languages, there are different words to distinguish the north and south.

In English language, word "Korea" may stand for both.

I think the name "Radio Pyongyang" is clear, does not have ambiguity. The name "Voice of Korea", we cannot guess which side it is from.

The radio recording was on the Military Foundation Day in DPRK, 25 April 1999. Its content is the celebration of the festival.

The programmes are political promotion news, editorials, songs and music.

The distance from receiving place Shenyang to Pyongyang is about 374.3KM, to Seoul is about 565.4KM, and to Beijing is about 660.5KM.

The two distances are shorter than to China's capital, it is easier to receive the radio programmes from the Korean Peninsula, and no special equipment is required.

Sometimes in the night, in the mid wave band, the radio transmission from North Korea can "mix" with Shenyang local radio signal, unintentionally interferes the local broadcast.

Broadcaster: Radio Pyongyang

Date of recording: 4/25/1999

Starting time: 11:00

Frequency: 9.445 MHz

Reception location: Shenyang China

Receiver and antenna: Philips Radio Receiver and Casette Recorder AW7509 with antenna on it

KCBS (mediumwave): January 8, 2021

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Walker who shares the following recording of KCBS made on January 8, 2021 starting at 1747 UTC in McGrath, Alaska, on 873 kHz.

Voice of Korea: December 27, 2020

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Walker who shares the following recording of the Voice of Korea made on December 27, 2020 starting at 2251 UTC in McGrath, Alaska, on 9650 kHz. Paul notes:

This also includes the dead air when once service ends and another begins.

Voice of Korea (Spanish Language Service): July 29, 2019

The UTwente SDR

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Davi Sousa, who shares the following recording of the Voice of Korea and notes:

Date of recording: 7/29/2019

Starting time: 1900

Frequency: 13.76 MHz

Receiver location: The Netherlands

Your receiver and antenna: Web SDR at University of Twente with Mini-Whip antenna

Notes: Spanish program from Voice of Korea to Europe

Voice of Korea: June 7, 2019

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bronwyn Cragg, who shares the following recording of the Voice of Korea from June 7, 2019 starting at 16:00 UTC on 11.645 MHz. Bronwyn made this recording using the WebSDR at the University of Twente in the Netherlands.

Voice of Korea: June 6, 2019

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bronwyn Cragg, who shares the following recording of the Voice of Korea from June 6, 2019 starting at 16:00 UTC on 11.645 MHz. Bronwyn made this recording using the WebSDR at the University of Twente in the Netherlands.

Voice of Korea: June 11, 2019

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bronwyn Cragg, who shares the following recording of the Voice of Korea from June 11, 2019 starting at 16:00 UTC on 11.645 MHz. Bronwyn made this recording using the WebSDR at the University of Twente in the Netherlands.

Voice of Korea: June 13, 2019

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bronwyn Cragg, who shares the following recording of the Voice of Korea from June 13, 2019 starting at 16:00 UTC on 11.645 MHz. Bronwyn made this recording using the WebSDR at the University of Twente in the Netherlands.

KCBS Pyongyang: December 3, 2016

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Anthony Messina, who shares the following recording and notes:

This recording was taken at 15kHz filtering, and is for historical purposes. It was taken via using the globaltuners.com node in Daegu, South Korea tuned to 2850kHz which is the domestic SW frequency of the DPRK. 2850kHz simulcasts the same broadcast on their MW frequency of 819kHz. 819kHz is listenable via this node, but it is usually met with noise jamming from the ROK and the 2850kHz frequency was booming in and much nicer to listen to. I will make more recordings of the many DPRK stations, including their 819kHz station. 

It was taken on the 3rd of December, 2016 at 5:02pm EST

Voice of Korea: October 17, 2016

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Walker, who notes:

This is the English service broadcast for The Voice Of Korea to "Latin America" from Kujang, North Korea. Recorded 0430-0530UTC October 17, 2016 using a Tecsun PL880, Welbrook ALA1530LNP, EmTech ZM2 antenna tuner and DXEngineering HF Preamp.

Listening location is Galena, Alaska. A village of 500 people in the rural central interior, 300 miles east of Nome and 300 miles west of Fairbanks

KCBS Pyongyang: April 9, 2016

Korean Central Broadcasting Station, Pyongyang recorded in London, UK on April 9, 2016 at 1601 UTC, on the frequency of 11680 kHz using AirSpy, SpyVerter, SDR# software and a 2 x 6m long wire dipole antenna. SDR#'s IF noise reduction plugin was used to mitigate the severe levels of static arising from poor propagation conditions. The non-directional transmitter has a power rating of 50 kW and is located in Kanggye, DPRK.

KCBS Pyongyang: September 17, 2015

Korean Central Broadcasting Station, Pyongyang recorded in London, UK on September 17, 2015 at 1605 UTC, on the frequency of 9665 kHz using SDRPlay with SDR# software and a 2 x 6m long wire dipole. The non-directional transmitter has a power rating of 50 kW and is located in Kanggye, DPRK. From NorthKoreaTech:

The Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) (Korean: 조선중앙방송, Chinese: 朝鲜中央放送, Japanese: 朝鮮中央放送) is the main domestic radio network in the DPRK. It sits under the Central Broadcasting Committee of the DPRK (called the Radio and Television Committee of the DPRK until 2009).

KCBS broadcasts from 5am to 3am local time via a network of mediumwave and shortwave transmitters that cover the nation. The powerful transmissions can easily be heard in neighboring countries, including South Korea where some of its frequencies are jammed.

A central program is broadcast from Pyongyang on most transmitters through the entire broadcast day, but some are reported to carry regional programming between 2pm and 3pm.

All programming is in Korean and includes music, talk and news.

The station appears to be a difficult catch in Europe because of the relatively low power and the non-directional mode of the transmission, and because of frequency clashes with China Radio International, Radio Cairo and Radio Voz Missionaria of Brazil. Indeed this recording was made in the small time window between CRI's Pashto and Hausa broadcasts, the latter of which can be heard starting at the end of the recording.

Furusato No Kaze: September 17, 2015

Furusato No Kaze recorded in London, UK on September 17, 2015 at 1600 UTC, on the frequency of 9960 kHz using SDRPlay with SDR# software and a 2 x 6m long wire dipole. The transmitter has a power rating of 100 kW and is located in Palau. From NorthKoreaTech:

Shortwave radio remains a vitally important way to reach into North Korea because of the total lack of international communications offered to its citizens. 

Furusato no Kaze (ふるさとの風, Hometown Wind) is run by the Japanese government and targets any Japanese citizens that were abducted by North Korea and remain alive in the country. There are two programs: Furusato no Kaze in Japanese and Nippon no Kaze (il bon ue baram, Japan Wind) in Korean. The first and last broadcasts of each day come from transmitters in Taiwan while the rest are from Palau.

You can also hear what appear to be North Korean jamming attempts in the background.

Voice of Korea, Sign-off: May 9, 2015

Many thanks to Anthony Messina, for this recording of the Voice of Korea sign off on 15.180 MHz using his Grundig Satellite 750 with External Solarcon in Haddon Heights, NJ USA. Anthony comments:

"Recorded using a panasonic tape recorder to do it the old fashioned way. At the end I mention exactly what time I recorded this."

Voice of Korea: August 9, 2014

North Korea propaganda poster

Many thanks to SWAA contributor, Frank, for this recording of Voice of Korea's English language service. 

Recorded in Europe on August 9, 2014 starting at 16:00 UTC on 11,645 kHz. Frank used a Kenwood R-5000 receiver and Wellbrook ALA 1530+ antenna.

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Voice of Korea, English: August 17, 2014

North Korea Propaganda Poster

Many thanks to Shortwave Radio Audio Archive contributor, Andre Bagley, who submits this recent recording of the Voice of Korea. Andre writes:

"Voice Of Korea is the international radio service of North Korea (officially known as the Democratic Republic of Korea). Most broadcasts of Voice Of Korea only have one or two stories that are either anti-American, anti-South Korean, or ant-Japanese. However, this particular broadcast's news segment seems to be solely dedicated to insulting it's enemies. Here we have North Korean commentary on the current Israel-Hamas conflict on the Gaza Strip, where the United States is blamed for the mess in their report. South Korea is declared a "colony" of the United States, and much more!

The program follows the exact same format for every broadcast:

:00 Opening signal, station identification: “This is Voice of Korea”

:01 National Anthem

:03 Song of General Kim Il Sung

:06 Song of General Kim Jong Il

:09 News, editorials (approx 15 minutes, but can be extended to full broadcast), followed by music

:30 Reminiscences of Great Leader President Kim Il Sung

:40 Music and features

:50 Editorial, special message (occasional)

:55 Frequency information

:57 Close

The broadcast was recorded using a Olympus VN-702 voice recorder hooked up to a Tecsun PL-600 Shortwave receiver using a random wire antenna. Broadcast was received on 11710 khz between1500-1557 UTC."

Click here to download as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Voice of Korea, English: July 6, 2014

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, London Shortwave, for this recording of the Voice of Korea's English language service.from July 6, 2014 starting at 21:00 UTC on 13,760 kHz. 

Note that this recording was made in London, England in the presence of strong RFI (radio frequency interference). The contributor used his complex RFI-defeating system (which includes phased magnetic loop antennas and digital noise reduction) in order to cancel much of the noise. The end result is much easier to hear, but sounds more "digital" than the typical recording posted here on the SRAA. London Shortwave proves, though, that you don't have to give up SWLing if you live in a high-density urban neighborhood.

Voice of Korea, English: May 15, 2014

PYONGYANG METRO STATION (ORIGINAL SOURCE: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)

Many thanks to SWAA contributor, Frank, for this recording of the Voice of Korea's English language service. 

Frank recorded this broadcast of VOK from his home in Europe on May 15, 2014, on 11,645 kHz, starting at 16:00 UTC, using a Kenwood R-5000 receiver and a Wellbrook ALA 1530+ antenna.

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below: