back to article Now beaming live from Pyongyang: NORKSCASTS!

Netizens with a hankering for some good old fashioned propaganda and Soviet-style marching music may be interested to know the daily English language programme from North Korea’s state-run radio station Voice of Korea is now available online. The one-hour broadcast is being made available by London-based World Radio Network ( …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    “Who triggered the Korean War?”.

    Mao pushed Kim Snr into it as part of his machinations for more military hardware from Russia.

    I thought everyone knew that??

    It worked as well; the US publicly contemplated using Nukes, so Mao then had the leverage needed to get technicians and supplies from Russia to start China's nuclear programme.

  2. ChrisM

    Here's an idea..

    How about we turn North Korea into a giant theme park... How dies Disneyland Communism sound?

    The final victory of capitalism over communism, a lovely utopian idea that only works if you take out the human bit (all the fleshy selfishness and idiocy)

    1. Mondo the Magnificent
      FAIL

      Re: Here's an idea..

      I could just imagine a Nork Communism Theme Park...

      There would be oversized effigies of all the "Kims" running around..

      There could also be a "House of Horrors" that contains wax dummies of former South Korean leaders, former and present western & U.S. leaders and western television personalities, while modern rock music plays in the background

      In the "City of the Future" section there would be integrated circuits, pocket calculators, oversized old school mobile phones, 17" CRT monitors, Karaoke machines and fuel injected cars.. The highlight would be a wind up flashlight!

      Then there would be the refreshments stands, comprising of rice, fish and soda water, meanwhile the stands' decor would mimic KFC & McD's!

      1. Tchou
        Pint

        Re: Here's an idea..

        While your comment is fun,

        I can't help but notice that it promotes the idea that western capitalism is the only way to let technology flourish.

        1. frank ly

          Re: Here's an idea..

          'Eastern' capitalism seems to have done well in Japan (and other places) and now China, in terms of letting technology flourish. I'm not sure if it's a form of imported 'western' capitalism or just letting people do what they want to do.

          Can you give examples of where technology development (not copying) has done at least fairly well away from capitalist systems?

          1. Steven Roper

            Re: Here's an idea..

            "Can you give examples of where technology development (not copying) has done at least fairly well away from capitalist systems?"

            Erm... pretty much the entire space programme? Bearing in mind that most of America's space program was built on Nazi technology which they appropriated from the likes of von Braun after the war. Also that in spite of the Americans benefiting from von Braun's genius, the Soviets were still the first to launch a satellite and the first to put a man in space - and if von Braun and his people had gone to them instead of America, they would have been the first on the moon as well.

            1. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge

              Re: Here's an idea..

              The yanks (and us ) got a fair amount of V1+V2 tech and the von Braun team who made it to the western sectors (the SS escots was under orders to shoot them if it looked like they were going to be capured)

              The rest and the mid level/bottom level techs and sciencists were rounded up by the soviets and sent east to work on the soviet missile program.

              They were imprisoned until 1953/1955 when the russians finally let them go.

              So both sides were just as bad as each other at looting nazi tech

            2. Psyx
              Thumb Up

              Re: Here's an idea..

              "Erm... pretty much the entire space programme? Bearing in mind that most of America's space program was built on Nazi technology which they appropriated from the likes of von Braun after the war. "

              Further to your point, I'd argue that even the American space programme was not part of a Capitalist system. It was not tied to capitalist culture or competitive forces. Instead it was developed in essentially a fascist manner: Funded by the government at limitless cost, in secrecy, for propaganda and military reasons.

            3. Jemma

              Re: Here's an idea..

              built on Nazi technology, by Nazi technologists...

              There, fixed it for you.

              Both Wernher von Braun and his brother worked for/ran NASA along with over 50 others who'd worked under and were often members of NSDAP and/or the Shutzstaffel. The Americans just conveniently forgot that little fact when it suited them in all sorts of fields.

            4. Dana W
              Meh

              Re: Here's an idea..

              @Steven Roper

              We got the scientists, Russia got the machine tools and production equipment. And we were hampered by a Military who imported, then basically ignored Von Braun till the exploding missiles got too embarrassing propaganda wise.

              They went with us because they didn't want to wind up doing their design work in a gulag. We paid better, and your house didn't get bars on the windows.

          2. Psyx
            Pint

            Re: Here's an idea..

            "I'm not sure if it's a form of imported 'western' capitalism"

            Yes it is. As brought in by black ships and gunboat diplomacy. We forced capitalism on them, essentially.

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Ships

    2. Alfred

      Theme Park

      To some degree, it is. After my trip there, when people asked me about it, I opened with "Imagine a billionaire asked you to create Crazy Eastern Communist Dictatorship World. Start at the point people step onto the flight in. Do all that kitsch stuff you'd expect; pictures of the leaders, worshipping statues, impeccably dressed tour guides with selective hearing, poverty-stricken peasants in the far distance when on the bus between cities, obvious shows to the tourists, pseudo-religious visit to birthplace of the Great Leader. Go nuts."

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Here's an idea..

      "How dies [sic] Disneyland Communism sound?"

      It's already been done; it's called "California".

      1. ChrisM

        Re: Here's an idea..

        If you believe that California is communist you would probably keel over and die if shown real socialism...

        Its a running gag in the UK that in America you can vote for the party on the right or the party really far on the right.

        Obama is seen as a wet pinko liberal but here he is off to the right of David Cameron

        Capitalim isn't the best sytem, its just (to paraphrase Churchill) that all the others are worse...

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          A wet pinko liberal?

          Even in the US of A it's acknowledged that Obama is generally to the right of Ronald Reagan, that patron saint of conservatives. It's just that Merkin politics has moved waaay to the right in the past 30 years.

          1. jake Silver badge

            WTF? What are you guys smoking, because I don't want any.

            California COMMUNIST? BWAHAHAHAHHAHA! That's the funniest thing I've read in a long time! Ta for the belly-laugh from this Californian :-)

            "Even in the US of A it's acknowledged that Obama is generally to the right of Ronald Reagan"

            By whom? I've certainly never heard that theory. Wine & beer makers run the gamut of US political opinion, and we discuss politics over tastings fairly regularly.

    4. Potemkine Silver badge

      Re: Here's an idea..

      They could organized a worldwide contest to inaugure the park.

      First prize: one week in North Korea.

      Second prize: one month in North Korea.

      Third prize: ten years in North Korea.

      For the whole family, grandparents and children included.

      They can do it for the park, they already do the same when they send somebody to a concentration camp.

  3. Christian Berger

    Getting their TV is actually comparatively simple

    They are on Thaicom 5, which reaches west just to about Austria where you can easily get it with just a 5 meter satellite dish. Plus there is a wmf stream somewhere.

    1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge
      Coat

      Re: Getting their TV is actually comparatively simple

      > where you can easily get it with just a 5 meter satellite dish.

      I'd hate to see your idea of a dish for difficult-to-get signals...

      1. Christian Berger

        Re: Getting their TV is actually comparatively simple

        > I'd hate to see your idea of a dish for difficult-to-get signals...

        Actually in Vienna you cannot get BBC one with a 5 meter dish, you need larger ones.

        BTW, does anybody know a British data centre with good Freeview reception?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Getting their TV is actually comparatively simple

          > BTW, does anybody know a British data centre with good Freeview reception?

          I use my sister's house, she has BT Infinity as well. Great for a VPN.

          And no, I'm not offering to share.

    2. Rampant Spaniel

      Re: Getting their TV is actually comparatively simple

      Our HOA would just love you :-)

  4. Denarius
    Trollface

    i like this, an alternative holy city

    for all the faithful disciples of a historically discredited nightmare based on wishful thinking and a complete ignore of how humans actually behave. Note; ignore, not ignorance. These broadcasts and TV would give these disciples somewhere to call home, since the Kremlin and Beijing dropped being the workers paradise. Then the disciples can drop the greenie front and become what they always were, manipulative bullies after unearned and unvoted power.

  5. Elmer Phud
    Alien

    NORK Speak

    "aside from the strangely clipped Germanic accent of the male presenter,"

    Why didn't Rodman get the job?

    Or is he too odd even for the Norks?

  6. Juan Inamillion
    Coat

    *cough*

    Errm... I was somewhat disappointed to find the article referred to 'North Korea'. Back when I lived in Oz the word 'norks' was attributed to what later became Bulgarian Air Bags.

    Did I miss something?

    /with the jazz mag

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: *cough*

      To answer your question ... Apparently.

      You see, the NORKs are being a bit[1] of a tit on the world stage. ElReg, being ElReg, took the obvious pun & ran with it. Have you really been reading & posting here in this esteemed Red Topped organ for four years?

      [1] Why yes, I have been accused of having the gift of understatement. Why do you ask?

      1. John Angelico
        Coat

        Re: *cough*

        [Hildebrand] ... and that's the long and the short of it!

  7. Electric Panda
    Happy

    Communism

    North Korea isn't actually Communist and hasn't been for quite some time now. The term "Communism" was deliberately removed from the constitution a few years back.

    It's really a one-party socialist dictatorship propped up by a load of Stalinist fossils in the military upper echelons.

    1. Anonymous Coward 101

      Re: Communism

      "It's really a one-party socialist dictatorship propped up by a load of Stalinist fossils in the military upper echelons."

      In other words, the difference between a Communist country and North Korea is that North Korea no longer has the word "communism" in it's constitution?

      1. Electric Panda

        Re: Communism

        Sort of, but the military-first policy and breathtakingly cackhanded economic policies makes North Korea truly unique. There are other brutal tin pot dictatorships that have a sense of WTF when looking at North Korea because it's a true extreme and pretty much completely dysfunctional.

      2. Potemkine Silver badge

        Re: Communism

        IIRC, this kind of 'Socialism' is just a transitional period before being able to reach the golden Age of Communism, so before that the State can ask whatever sacrifices to the people to reach that stage where everything will be more than perfect.

  8. Robert Helpmann??
    Childcatcher

    ...a pretty draconian crack down

    Forcing people to live with their DVD players' USB ports turned off is hardly "draconian," not even mildly so. "Harsh," or "domineering," perhaps, but not close to "pretty draconian." Get caught turning it back on again... I don't know, would the person committing such an offense be shot ? That's what draconian is.

  9. JeffyPooh
    Pint

    Hmmm...

    Perhaps this carriage of Nork Radio International on WRN helps to explain why SiriusXM satellite radio (North America) recently dropped WRN from the channel line-up. ...Probably amongst other pressures on the bandwidth.

    As an old-fart shortwave listener, it's been a hoot to drive around town listening to assorted 'foreign' broadcasts. We're down to having the BBC as the only 'foreign' channel on SiriusXM now.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Hmmm...

      I was thinking the same thing: why listen to the stream if you can listen directly?

      So, what's the frequency, Kenneth?

      1. Quxy
        Pint

        Re: Hmmm...

        Depends upon where and when you're trying to pick it up. Details here:

        http://www.northkoreatech.org/2013/03/31/new-voice-of-korea-english-schedule/

      2. Jemma

        Re: Hmmm...

        456 megacycles, wasnt it....?

        1. Ed_UK

          Re: Hmmm...

          "456 megacycles"

          That would be from Little Nell? Nice reference.

    2. blearrgh
      Black Helicopters

      "As an old-fart shortwave listener"

      There was something about tuning in international stations on a shortwave that just isn't the same in this modern internet era.

      The Voice of Korea was always something of a personal favourite. The bombastic national anthem (with a bit that sounds an awful lot like "It's A Long Way From Tipperary") followed by the latest news about the gangster Americans and their puppet clique in the south, mixed in with updates on how the trade delegation from Belize was getting on or birthday wishes for the Great Leader from Equatorial Guinea. Good times.

  10. Maikol
    Thumb Up

    The music is nice

    That band is not half bad! Makes you wish western girl groups where like them.

    They actually playing musical instruments instead of just prancing around semi-naked and shaking their "thang" like western groups.

    Reminds me a bit of Eurovision back in the 70s though.

    1. Potemkine Silver badge

      Re: The music is nice

      The motivation is not the same. One mistake and the musician and all her family is sent to a NK version of Dachau.

  11. anaru
    Black Helicopters

    Subtitles for the song anyone?

    Also, you can hear the applause looping at the end...

    1. Peter Simpson 1
      WTF?

      Re: Subtitles for the song anyone?

      Subtitles present, comrade!

      (utility somewhat diminished by the fact that they're in Korean, rather than English, though)

      Anyone care to attempt to translate them?

  12. James Dore
    Mushroom

    "Let's Study" would get a good showing in Eurovision.

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