{"id":307,"date":"2021-07-20T20:53:04","date_gmt":"2021-07-20T20:53:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/?p=307"},"modified":"2021-10-25T15:59:09","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T15:59:09","slug":"north-korean-government-listens-in-on-illegal-radio-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/north-korean-government-listens-in-on-illegal-radio-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korean Government Listens in on Illegal Radio Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The young woman settled into her seat in front of a microphone in a closet-sized studio. Hannah skimmed the script, took a breath, and began to read. Once an eager listener on the other side of the broadcast, Hannah is now a familiar voice of forbidden Christian programming that is broadcast into North Korea<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Hannah was a child in North Korea<\/a>, she spent nearly every night huddled next to the radio with her father. \u201cIt was illegal to listen to the radio, but we did it in secret,\u201d Hannah said. Though forbidden, her father managed to purchase one so they could tune in to South Korean radio stations. Even today, the North Korean<\/a> government attempts to \u201cjam\u201d outside signals and confiscate illegal radios. Citizens caught with one are arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her father was cautious, warning the family to keep their radio a secret. They waited until after midnight, when all the neighbors were asleep, to listen to it. When they did, they heard about a world that was completely different from the one described by their North Korean<\/a> leaders and by Hannah\u2019s teachers at school. She had a strong relationship with her father, and they often discussed what they heard on the radio programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\r\n\t

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Request your free magazine<\/p>\r\n\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\n\n\n

Hannah\u2019s father especially enjoyed listening to Christian sermons. As a teenager, Hannah thought the sermons were boring, but her father explained that the sermons helped him figure out the truth about life, why he was born and the meaning of humanity. At the time, Hannah was interested in other programs. \u201cThe music was very different than North Korea<\/a>,\u201d she recalled. \u201cIt made me curious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As they listened and learned about the world outside, the family began to consider a risky option \u2014 leaving their home country. \u201cThe original plan was that I would [leave] first, and after they made more money for the broker\u2019s fee, the whole family would come,\u201d Hannah said. While she couldn\u2019t know it at the time, the day the broker came to sneak her into China<\/a> was the last time she would see her family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From China<\/a>, Hannah traveled on to Thailand, where she was placed in a temporary detention center for North Koreans.<\/a> Then, after being cleared and released from the center, she eventually made it to South Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hannah was 19 and alone in a new country, and she missed her family. One day while passing by a church, she decided to go in and introduce herself as a North Korean<\/a>. \u201cThey welcomed me into the church,\u201d she said. \u201cAt that time it was the most difficult time of my life, and the church was there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hannah began attending the church, and as she listened to the sermons she remembered those that she and her father had listened to on the radio. \u201cI definitely grew a lot in faith coming [to South Korea],\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her family never made it out of North Korea<\/a>. Shortly after Hannah left, the North Korean <\/a>leader Kim Jong Il died, and tightened border security made defection almost impossible. Once a year, she pays a broker to place a secret call to her family, but the calls are kept short so they can\u2019t be monitored. During one call Hannah learned that her beloved father had passed away, and more recently she hasn\u2019t been able to contact her family at all. \u201cThe situation back there with my family is very difficult, painful,\u201d she said. She prays that she will hear from her mom soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Listening to Speaking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Hannah made a life for herself in South Korea and continued to grow in faith, but she longed for meaningful Christian service. So when an elder in her church mentioned a radio program that VOM Korea produces and broadcasts into North Korea<\/a>, she knew it was the missing piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She soon became involved in the radio work, confident that her father would be proud of the way she was reaching out to her countrymen. Hannah now spends two Saturday mornings each month recording Christian programs at the studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The banned shortwave radio broadcasts are just one way VOM works to spread the gospel inside North Korea<\/a>. Understanding the radio broadcasts\u2019 effectiveness, the Communist<\/a> government attempts to block this particular radio station. Earlier this year, electronic interference became so severe that VOM radio engineers decided to switch frequencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hannah\u2019s announcements of Christian music, Scripture readings and sermons in the North Korean<\/a> dialect engage North Korean <\/a>listeners in a way that a South Korean announcer could not. After years of separation, North Korean <\/a>and South Korean dialects differ enough that North Koreans <\/a>can have trouble understanding South Koreans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent North Korean<\/a> defector who is not a Christian told VOM staff he regularly listened to the radio broadcast in North Korea<\/a> simply because he appreciated the announcer\u2019s soft voice. He even had the program schedule memorized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a former listener, Hannah understands how important these programs are in reaching North Koreans<\/a> with the gospel, and she is sure her involvement in radio work is not an accident. \u201cThere was a plan for me to be involved with radio, too,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is definitely not by chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she finishes recording, Hannah picks up her bag and returns home. While she may not see the immediate results of her work, she knows that all over North Korea<\/a>, people are listening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The young woman settled into her seat in front of a microphone in a closet-sized studio. Hannah skimmed the script, took a breath, and began to read. Once an eager listener on the other side of the broadcast, Hannah is now a familiar voice of forbidden Christian programming that is broadcast into North Korea. When Hannah was a child in North Korea, she spent nearly every night huddled next to the radio with her father. \u201cIt was illegal to listen to the radio, but we did it in secret,\u201d Hannah said. Though forbidden, her father managed to purchase one so they could tune in to South Korean radio stations. Even today, the North Korean government attempts to \u201cjam\u201d outside signals and confiscate illegal radios. Citizens caught with one are arrested. Her father was cautious, warning the family to keep their radio a secret. They waited until after midnight, when all the neighbors were asleep, to listen to it. When they did, they heard about a world that was completely different from the one described by their North Korean leaders and by Hannah\u2019s teachers at school. She had a strong relationship with her father, and they often discussed what they heard<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":308,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[44],"class_list":["post-307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-field-stories","tag-north-korea","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nNorth Korean Government Listens in on Illegal Radio Programs - Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hannah is the voice behind the forbidden Christian programming that is broadcasted on the radio into North Korea.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/north-korean-government-listens-in-on-illegal-radio-programs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"North Korean Government Listens in on Illegal Radio Programs - 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