Mass media in North Korea
North Korea has about four million mobile-phone subscribers circa 2022—roughly one-sixth of the population and four times the number in 2012, according to an estimate by Kim Yon-ho, a senior researcher at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies.
[1] Reporters Without Borders has consistently ranked North Korea at or near the bottom of its yearly Press Freedom Index since it was first issued in 2002.
In practice, however, the press is tightly controlled by the state, and the government only allows speech that supports it and the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.
[5] As of 2023[update], North Korea occupies the last place on Reporters Without Borders' annual Press Freedom Index.
"[6] Media reports in North Korea are often one-sided and exaggerated, playing "little or no role in gathering and disseminating vital information true to facts" and providing propaganda for the regime.
[9] Journalists who do not follow the strict laws face punishment in the form of hard labour or imprisonment, or sometimes even execution.
[14] All indications are that this has continued under the country's third and current leader, Kim Jong-un; soon after his father's death he was acclaimed as the "Great Successor".
[15] Approximately 90% of airtime on international news broadcasts in North Korea is propaganda spent describing the publication of works by Kim Jong Il and showing various study groups in foreign countries, to allegedly mislead the North Korean public as to the outside world's perceptions of the country.
[18] Though some international news coverage is given in DPRK media, much is ignored,[19] is mentioned very briefly,[20] or is announced several days after the event, as was the case with the Ryongchon disaster in 2004.
The media remained silent on domestic issues, by not reporting on economic reforms introduced by the government such as increasing wages and food prices,[23] rarely mentioning Kim Jong Il until his first party position in 1980[24] and the launching of missiles.
[25] Restrictions on the dissemination of information do not only apply to the civilian population but North Korean officials themselves, depending on ranking.
[26] In contrast, the idea of reunification of the two Koreas is a pervasive theme in the North Korean media,[27] as is the near-constant "threat" of an "imminent attack" by the foreign countries.
November 2007 marked the first publication of the Rimjingang magazine, which is distributed secretly in North Korea and neighbouring countries.
Due to the extremely limited flow of information out of the country, there is no consensus over what rules are actually in place to govern photojournalism by members of foreign press services.
North Korean leaders believe that their rules and censorship system is necessary in order to keep people under control, "to prevent the rise of criticism about the government.
KCTV's principal newsreader from 1974 to 2012, Ri Chun-hee, was well known for the wavering, exuberant tone she used when praising the nation's leaders and the hateful one she used in denouncing countries seen as hostile to the regime.
[53] All broadcast media in some way promotes the regime's ideologies and positions, such as Juche, and regularly condemns actions by South Korea, Japan, China, Israel, the United States, and other nations.
After Kim Jong Un's stated the intention of improving 'wire broadcasting', the third network has seen installation in new apartment units, although in the 90s, distribution cables were apparently plundered for scrap metal.
[60] North Korean broadcasts have been picked up in South Korea,[61] and are monitored by the Unification Ministry in Seoul, which handles cross-border relations and media exchanges.
[68] In September 2019 state-run media announced the release of a motion-based video game system named the Moranbong.
