Sohn Kwang-joo, chief editor of Daily NK
With the difficulty that foreigners face when trying to report on North Korea, human rights organizations have long relied on defector testimonies to penetrate the information barrier into the isolated nation. Therefore, it only seems natural that a number of North Korean defectors have become undercover journalists. Supported by groups such as Daily NK and Open Radio for North Korea, they are often former North Korean intellectuals or officials who fled South but still have considerable connections in the North. While informants are paid by the news agencies that they provide information to, as a recent article in the New York Times reveals, there is often a greater motivation:
“These officials provide news because they feel uncertain about the future of their regime and want to have a link with the outside world, or because of their friendship with the defectors…”
Though the news agencies who employ North Korean informants may have good intentions in trying to bring hidden stories to a public audience, as the article also notes, such information is not always reliable:
Kang Chol-hwan, a former North Korean prison camp inmate who now writes for the mainstream daily Chosun, said there are “information brokers” in North Korea who sell exaggerated and fake news to outside media. Lee Chan-ho, a chief analyst at the South Korean government’s Unification Ministry, warned that the “flood of raw, unconfirmed reports” complicates the effort to understand the North.
Mr. Ha, of Open Radio for North Korea, conceded that point: “Because our sources have never been trained in journalism, exaggeration is a problem for us. Some demand more money for information. We try to cross-check our reports as much as possible.”
[The New York Times, Choe Sang-Hun]
Ha Tae-keung, president of Open Radio for North Korea
Due to the potential for inaccurate reports, perhaps it would be wise for readers to remember to take everything with a grain of salt. And certainly, reports should be analyzed and thoroughly checked before becoming evidence for any type of diplomacy or other consequential action. But undoubtedly, news services such as Daily NK and Open Radio for North Korea are also crucial as reactants to propaganda being released directly from the North Korean government. When outside groups continue to disclose North Korean stories – ranging from political decisions to human rights issues – they serve as a reminder that much of the rest of the world does remain curious about what happens inside North Korea.
