A North Korean defector has been indicted on charges of breaking a South Korean law banning the spread of propaganda leaflets along the inter-Korean border, prosecutors and attorneys said Friday.

Park Sang Hak is the first person to be indicted under the new law, which critics say puts a policy of engagement with North Korea above human rights.

For years, Park and others like him have launched balloons into North Korea loaded with propaganda leaflets urging North Koreans to rise up against their authoritarian leader, Kim Jong Un. Under the law, which went into effect last March, sending such leaflets was made a crime punishable by a fine or a prison term of up to three years.

Park defied the ban in April by launching 10 balloons carrying a half million leaflets. The police later raided his office and interrogated him. In July, they formally asked prosecutors to indict Park under the law, which President Moon Jae-in has vowed to strictly enforce.

Lee Hun, Park’s attorney, said Friday that he received a formal notice from prosecutors that Park had been indicted Wednesday on charges of “attempting” to send the leaflets because investigators lacked evidence that the leaflets actually landed in the North.

A remnant from the Cold War, the leaflets have created tensions not only between the two Koreas but also between North Korean human rights activists and Moon’s government.

North Korea has called the leaflets an “intolerable provocation.” Moon’s government​ sponsored the new law after accusing activists of provoking the North unnecessarily.

The president’s conservative critics accused him of suppressing freedom of speech ​and aiding Kim’s totalitarian regime “at​ ​North Korea’s behest​.”

Lee said he planned to take the case to the Constitutional Court and ask it to overturn the law.

“If an evil law is a law, send me to prison!” Park said Friday. “Even if they send me to prison, my colleagues will continue to send leaflets​.”

After Park launched the leaflets in April, Kim’s sister and spokesperson, Kim Yo Jong, called him “dirty human scum” and warned of “consequences.”

About 33,800 North Koreans have fled to South Korea since the 1990s. Park, who fled in 1999, has stood out for his highly public campaign supporting North Korean human rights, although critics consider him theatrical.

His group, Fighters For Free North Korea, calls the ruling Kim family in Pyongyang womanizers and “dictatorial pigs,” and burns them in effigy during outdoor rallies in South Korea. Its leaflets also call Kim a “human butcher” who killed his uncle and half brother.

There has been no credible study on how many North Koreans read or react to the propaganda leaflets. Analysts say that leaflets are not as effective as radio broadcasts and flash drives smuggled across the Chinese border. But launching leaflets is perhaps the activists’ most visible campaign tactic.

Park has often invited media to his balloon-launching ceremonies, where the large hydrogen balloons waft across the world’s most heavily armed border. Once in North Korea, timer devices click, unfastening vinyl bundles. Leaflets, dollar bills, mini-Bibles and USB drives chock-full of content banned in the North fall out of the sky like snowflakes.

Kim keeps his people under a total information blackout in North Korea, blocking the internet and making sure all radio and TV sets receive his government’s propaganda broadcasts only. The government in Seoul said the balloons endanger people living on both sides of the border.

In 2014, the North Korean military fired shells at balloons drifting across the border, but instead hit South Korean villages, prompting the South to return fire.

In a poll taken last May, 51% of the respondents in South Korea supported the new ban, while 37% said it violated freedom of speech. Among those living close to the border, the support rate was 57-60%. Cities and provinces near the border have also called for Park’s punishment.

When North Korea blew up in 2020 a liaison office on its side of the border where officials from both Koreas had worked together, it cited South Korea’s failure to implement an agreement banning leaflets and other propaganda warfare as the impetus. Moon’s government accelerated its efforts to push the anti-leaflet bill through Parliament after the liaison office was destroyed.

South Korea’s conservative opposition has noted a jarring contrast between Moon’s crackdown on leaflets and his restrained response when North Korea killed a South Korean fisheries official or when the country likened Moon to a “parrot” and “mongrel dog” that followed orders from the United States.

“President Moon seems to believe that the only way to keep peace on the Korean Peninsula is to do nothing that will disturb the Kim brother and sister in the North,” said Tae Yong-ho, a former North Korean diplomat who is now an opposition lawmaker in Seoul.

Park, who is set to go to trial in the coming weeks for violating the leaflet ban, has some harsh critics of his own, many of whom are also North Korean human rights activists.

Lee Min-bok, another defector from North Korea, criticized not only the law but also Park, who he said jeopardized the entire balloon campaign by provoking both governments.

Lee started sending leaflets in 2006, before Park, and favored low-key operations that didn’t attract media attention. He launched leaflets that focused on providing news from outside North Korea, rather than criticizing the Kim regime.

“The extremely provocative language in Park Sang-hak’s leaflets has nothing to do with promoting North Korean human rights, but is tailored to please conservatives and provoke progressives in the South,” Lee said. “He wants to become a hero by going to prison for fighting this law.”

Park’s legal troubles precede Friday’s indictment. He is also on trial for breaking a law on collecting donations. In August, he was given a suspended eight-month prison term for beating a South Korean TV reporter who showed up at his home for an interview request.

Park has denied the allegations against him and dismissed his critics as “snakes” and “hypocrites.” He often points to an incident in 2011, when a man was arrested in South Korea on a charge of plotting to assassinate him with a poison needle at North Korea’s request.

“Kim Jong Un wants to kill me, and President Moon wants to send me to prison,” Park told reporters in May. “But they cannot stop us from telling facts and truth.”

A North Korean defector has been indicted on charges of breaking a South Korean law banning the spread of propaganda leaflets along the inter-Korean border, prosecutors and attorneys said Friday.

A North Korean defector has been indicted on charges of breaking a South Korean law banning the spread of propaganda leaflets along the inter-Korean border, prosecutors and attorneys said Friday. Park Sang Hak is the first person to be indicted under the new law, which critics say puts a policy of engagement with North Korea above human rights. For years, Park and others like him have launched balloons into North Korea loaded with propaganda leaflets urging North Koreans to rise up against their authoritarian leader, Kim Jong Un. Under the law, which went into effect last March, sending such leaflets was made a crime punishable by a fine or a prison term of up to three years. Park defied the ban in April by launching 10 balloons carrying a half million leaflets. The police later raided his office and interrogated him. In July, they formally asked prosecutors to indict Park under the law, which President Moon Jae-in has vowed to strictly enforce. Lee Hun, Park’s attorney, said Friday that he received a formal notice from prosecutors that Park had been indicted Wednesday on charges of “attempting” to send the leaflets because investigators lacked evidence that the leaflets actually landed in the North. A remnant from the Cold War, the leaflets have created tensions not only between the two Koreas but also between North Korean human rights activists and Moon’s government. North Korea has called the leaflets an “intolerable provocation.” Moon’s government sponsored the new law after accusing activists of provoking the North unnecessarily. The president’s conservative critics accused him of suppressing freedom of speech and aiding Kim’s totalitarian regime “at North Korea’s behest.” Lee said he planned to take the case to the Constitutional Court and ask it to overturn the law. “If an evil law is a law, send me to prison!” Park said Friday. “Even if they send me to prison, my colleagues will continue to send leaflets.” After Park launched the leaflets in April, Kim’s sister and spokesperson, Kim Yo Jong, called him “dirty human scum” and warned of “consequences.” About 33,800 North Koreans have fled to South Korea since the 1990s. Park, who fled in 1999, has stood out for his highly public campaign supporting North Korean human rights, although critics consider him theatrical. His group, Fighters For Free North Korea, calls the ruling Kim family in Pyongyang womanizers and “dictatorial pigs,” and burns them in effigy during outdoor rallies in South Korea. Its leaflets also call Kim a “human butcher” who killed his uncle and half brother. There has been no credible study on how many North Koreans read or react to the propaganda leaflets. Analysts say that leaflets are not as effective as radio broadcasts and flash drives smuggled across the Chinese border. But launching leaflets is perhaps the activists’ most visible campaign tactic. Park has often invited media to his balloon-launching ceremonies, where the large hydrogen balloons waft across the world’s most heavily armed border. Once in North Korea, timer devices click, unfastening vinyl bundles. Leaflets, dollar bills, mini-Bibles and USB drives chock-full of content banned in the North fall out of the sky like snowflakes. Kim keeps his people under a total information blackout in North Korea, blocking the internet and making sure all radio and TV sets receive his government’s propaganda broadcasts only. The government in Seoul said the balloons endanger people living on both sides of the border. In 2014, the North Korean military fired shells at balloons drifting across the border, but instead hit South Korean villages, prompting the South to return fire. In a poll taken last May, 51% of the respondents in South Korea supported the new ban, while 37% said it violated freedom of speech. Among those living close to the border, the support rate was 57-60%. Cities and provinces near the border have also called for Park’s punishment. When North Korea blew up in 2020 a liaison office on its side of the border where officials from both Koreas had worked together, it cited South Korea’s failure to implement an agreement banning leaflets and other propaganda warfare as the impetus. Moon’s government accelerated its efforts to push the anti-leaflet bill through Parliament after the liaison office was destroyed. South Korea’s conservative opposition has noted a jarring contrast between Moon’s crackdown on leaflets and his restrained response when North Korea killed a South Korean fisheries official or when the country likened Moon to a “parrot” and “mongrel dog” that followed orders from the United States. “President Moon seems to believe that the only way to keep peace on the Korean Peninsula is to do nothing that will disturb the Kim brother and sister in the North,” said Tae Yong-ho, a former North Korean diplomat who is now an opposition lawmaker in Seoul. Park, who is set to go to trial in the coming weeks for violating the leaflet ban, has some harsh critics of his own, many of whom are also North Korean human rights activists. Lee Min-bok, another defector from North Korea, criticized not only the law but also Park, who he said jeopardized the entire balloon campaign by provoking both governments. Lee started sending leaflets in 2006, before Park, and favored low-key operations that didn’t attract media attention. He launched leaflets that focused on providing news from outside North Korea, rather than criticizing the Kim regime. “The extremely provocative language in Park Sang-hak’s leaflets has nothing to do with promoting North Korean human rights, but is tailored to please conservatives and provoke progressives in the South,” Lee said. “He wants to become a hero by going to prison for fighting this law.” Park’s legal troubles precede Friday’s indictment. He is also on trial for breaking a law on collecting donations. In August, he was given a suspended eight-month prison term for beating a South Korean TV reporter who showed up at his home for an interview request. Park has denied the allegations against him and dismissed his critics as “snakes” and “hypocrites.” He often points to an incident in 2011, when a man was arrested in South Korea on a charge of plotting to assassinate him with a poison needle at North Korea’s request. “Kim Jong Un wants to kill me, and President Moon wants to send me to prison,” Park told reporters in May. “But they cannot stop us from telling facts and truth.”

Fiery North Korean defector charged under new propaganda law

North Korea shows women soldiers fawning over Kim Jong-Un. But, do you know what these women really go through? A defector has shared harrowing details of abuse, atrocities & abortions without anaesthesia. Palki Sharma tells you about her gut-wrenching ordeal.

Gravitas: Inside North Korea: A defector's horror story

Five months before the World Health Organization designated the virus a pandemic, American leaders were purportedly notified of a new coronavirus circulating in Wuhan.

However, alarming new claims by a Chinese whistleblower suggest that the important early warning – which arrived six weeks before China recognised an outbreak had happened – went unheeded even as the bodies began to pile up.

That's according to Wei Jingsheng, a defector and democracy activist who makes the shocking disclosure in a new documentary, 'What Really Happened in Wuhan'.&nbsp;

Wei Jingsheng revealed in the documentary that he took his concerns about the unfolding situation to senior figures within the Trump administration but was subsequently ignored.

'I felt they were not as concerned as I was, so I tried my best to provide more detail and information,' he said.

Even as an unknown number of bodies began flooding the city's hospitals, Xi Jinping's authoritarian dictatorship worked desperately to silence whistle-blowers and any discussion of the virus in the early stages of the Wuhan outbreak.

Any mention of a new SARS virus or 'outbreak' on social media was blocked, and brave medical personnel who tried to speak out and warn the world were jailed and forced to sign bogus confessions of panic-stirring.

Jingsheng, who had been exiled to the United States for years, said he was aware of what was going on because to Beijing Communist Party insiders who expressed their concerns and outlined the central government cover-up.

(With inputs from agencies)

Five months before the World Health Organization designated the virus a pandemic, American leaders were purportedly notified of a new coronavirus circulating in Wuhan.

Five months before the World Health Organization designated the virus a pandemic, American leaders were purportedly notified of a new coronavirus circulating in Wuhan. However, alarming new claims by a Chinese whistleblower suggest that the important early warning – which arrived six weeks before China recognised an outbreak had happened – went unheeded even as the bodies began to pile up. That's according to Wei Jingsheng, a defector and democracy activist who makes the shocking disclosure in a new documentary, 'What Really Happened in Wuhan'. Wei Jingsheng revealed in the documentary that he took his concerns about the unfolding situation to senior figures within the Trump administration but was subsequently ignored. 'I felt they were not as concerned as I was, so I tried my best to provide more detail and information,' he said. Even as an unknown number of bodies began flooding the city's hospitals, Xi Jinping's authoritarian dictatorship worked desperately to silence whistle-blowers and any discussion of the virus in the early stages of the Wuhan outbreak. Any mention of a new SARS virus or 'outbreak' on social media was blocked, and brave medical personnel who tried to speak out and warn the world were jailed and forced to sign bogus confessions of panic-stirring. Jingsheng, who had been exiled to the United States for years, said he was aware of what was going on because to Beijing Communist Party insiders who expressed their concerns and outlined the central government cover-up. (With inputs from agencies)

Chinese defector tried to warn Trump about COVID-19 five months before pandemic 

A North Korean soldier who was shot by his own side and severely injured while dashing across the border into South Korea has regained consciousness, a report said Tuesday.

The defector is awake after undergoing two major operations at a hospital in Suwon just south of Seoul, according to an unidentified government official quoted by Yonhap news agency.

&quot;The soldier has regained consciousness and he requested to watch television,&quot; the official was quoted as saying, adding he was being shown South Korean movies for his &quot;psychological comfort&quot;.

The defector ran across the border at the Panmunjom truce village on November 13 as former comrades from the North opened fire on him, hitting him at least four times.

He was pulled to safety by three South Korean soldiers who crawled to reach him just south of the dividing line.

It is very rare for the North&#39;s troops to defect at Panmunjom, a major tourist attraction and the only part of the border where forces from the two sides come face-to-face.

The patient was now able to express his thoughts to medical staff, the official said.&nbsp;

To allay his fears and reassure him he was indeed in the South, medical staff apparently placed a South Korean flag in his room and were also using psychotherapy.

In addition to his gunshot injuries, the defector was found to be riddled with intestinal parasites, an apparent result of poor food hygiene in the impoverished North.

Depending on medical advice, an interrogation team is expected to question him in four or five days&#39; time, according to the official.&nbsp;

'The soldier has regained consciousness and he requested to watch television,' a government official said

A North Korean soldier who was shot by his own side and severely injured while dashing across the border into South Korea has regained consciousness, a report said Tuesday. The defector is awake after undergoing two major operations at a hospital in Suwon just south of Seoul, according to an unidentified government official quoted by Yonhap news agency. "The soldier has regained consciousness and he requested to watch television," the official was quoted as saying, adding he was being shown South Korean movies for his "psychological comfort". The defector ran across the border at the Panmunjom truce village on November 13 as former comrades from the North opened fire on him, hitting him at least four times. He was pulled to safety by three South Korean soldiers who crawled to reach him just south of the dividing line. It is very rare for the North's troops to defect at Panmunjom, a major tourist attraction and the only part of the border where forces from the two sides come face-to-face. The patient was now able to express his thoughts to medical staff, the official said. To allay his fears and reassure him he was indeed in the South, medical staff apparently placed a South Korean flag in his room and were also using psychotherapy. In addition to his gunshot injuries, the defector was found to be riddled with intestinal parasites, an apparent result of poor food hygiene in the impoverished North. Depending on medical advice, an interrogation team is expected to question him in four or five days' time, according to the official.

North Korean soldier who defected regains consciousness, asks to watch TV

For an hour each day, Kim Chung-seong, a defector from North Korea and a Christian missionary, takes to the microphone in a small Seoul studio.

At 1 a.m., his show, &quot;Hello from Seoul, the Republic of Korea,&quot; sends a mix of gospel music and news into North Korea, defying the isolated state&#39;s efforts to keep its people in the dark about the world, religion and the truth about its leaders.

&quot;Brothers and sisters in the North, I hope this time can be a moment of prayer for a miracle that every party member of North Korea at the party congress can meet God, not take a further step into the cult of personality,&quot; Kim said.

He was referring to the meeting of the North&#39;s ruling Workers&#39; Party this month, where young leader Kim Jong Un was unanimously elevated to party chairman.

&quot;I am desperately praying that North Korea&#39;s Kim Jong Un and all administrators under him kneel down in front of God and repent for their sins, leave the path of tormenting their people,&quot; Kim, who came to the South in 2004, said in his studio at the Far East Broadcasting Company.

North Korea strictly bans access to outside information, but a growing number of North Koreans consume illicit media, including South Korean TV dramas that show the prosperity of life across the heavily fortified border, via contraband USB sticks and DVDs smuggled from China.

The impoverished North is still technically at war with rich, democratic South Korea because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty. It has also been slapped with UN and other sanctions for its nuclear and missile programmes.

Robert King, U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, told a Senate panel in October that up to 29 percent of North Koreans had listened to foreign radio and said the medium, including the U.S. government&#39;s Voice of America, remained the most important way to get information into the country.

&nbsp;

&quot;LISTENING UNDER THE BLANKET&quot;

Kim Myung-jun,&nbsp;professor at Sogang University&#39;s school of mass communications in Seoul, said smuggled USB sticks and DVDs were more about&nbsp;entertainment, whereas radio carried news.

&quot;Once you listen in, you tend to keep listening under the blanket. It gets you addicted,&quot; he said. &quot;AM radio stations like Far East Broadcasting Company have pretty good signals and can be listened to clearly in much of North Korea.&quot;

Kim, the broadcaster, said he tried to delegitimise the three-generation Kim family dictatorship and preach Christian gospel on his show, often with fellow defectors as guests.

&quot;I am not saying everything is bad in North Korea,&quot; said Kim, 39, who has hosted the show for six years.

&quot;But, for example, if the party congress is meant to worship one particular person and make 20 million people that person&#39;s slaves, that is meaningless. That&#39;s what I am talking about on my show.&quot;

North Korea&#39;s constitution guarantees freedom of religion provided it does not undermine the state, but outside of a small handful of state-controlled places of worship, no open religious activity is allowed.

It is also illegal to own a radio that can be tuned, and the only radio or TV sets permitted are those pre-set to state channels. However, many tune in to foreign shows with smuggled Chinese radios and illegally altered North Korean sets.

One weekly guest, defector Ko Ji-eun, said she was a fan of Kim&#39;s show while hiding in China for several years.

After she arrived in Seoul last year, Ko met a fellow defector who had listened to the show while inside the North last year and has since fled to the South.

&quot;North Koreans are now using Chinese earphones not to expose themselves to authorities,&quot; Ko said. &quot;Many people inside North Korea are listening to this radio a lot.&quot;

For an hour each day, Kim Chung-seong, a defector from North Korea and a Christian missionary, takes to the microphone in a small Seoul studio. At 1 a.m., his show, "Hello from Seoul, the Republic of Korea," sends a mix of gospel music and news into North Korea.

For an hour each day, Kim Chung-seong, a defector from North Korea and a Christian missionary, takes to the microphone in a small Seoul studio. At 1 a.m., his show, "Hello from Seoul, the Republic of Korea," sends a mix of gospel music and news into North Korea, defying the isolated state's efforts to keep its people in the dark about the world, religion and the truth about its leaders. "Brothers and sisters in the North, I hope this time can be a moment of prayer for a miracle that every party member of North Korea at the party congress can meet God, not take a further step into the cult of personality," Kim said. He was referring to the meeting of the North's ruling Workers' Party this month, where young leader Kim Jong Un was unanimously elevated to party chairman. "I am desperately praying that North Korea's Kim Jong Un and all administrators under him kneel down in front of God and repent for their sins, leave the path of tormenting their people," Kim, who came to the South in 2004, said in his studio at the Far East Broadcasting Company. North Korea strictly bans access to outside information, but a growing number of North Koreans consume illicit media, including South Korean TV dramas that show the prosperity of life across the heavily fortified border, via contraband USB sticks and DVDs smuggled from China. The impoverished North is still technically at war with rich, democratic South Korea because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty. It has also been slapped with UN and other sanctions for its nuclear and missile programmes. Robert King, U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, told a Senate panel in October that up to 29 percent of North Koreans had listened to foreign radio and said the medium, including the U.S. government's Voice of America, remained the most important way to get information into the country. "LISTENING UNDER THE BLANKET" Kim Myung-jun, professor at Sogang University's school of mass communications in Seoul, said smuggled USB sticks and DVDs were more about entertainment, whereas radio carried news. "Once you listen in, you tend to keep listening under the blanket. It gets you addicted," he said. "AM radio stations like Far East Broadcasting Company have pretty good signals and can be listened to clearly in much of North Korea." Kim, the broadcaster, said he tried to delegitimise the three-generation Kim family dictatorship and preach Christian gospel on his show, often with fellow defectors as guests. "I am not saying everything is bad in North Korea," said Kim, 39, who has hosted the show for six years. "But, for example, if the party congress is meant to worship one particular person and make 20 million people that person's slaves, that is meaningless. That's what I am talking about on my show." North Korea's constitution guarantees freedom of religion provided it does not undermine the state, but outside of a small handful of state-controlled places of worship, no open religious activity is allowed. It is also illegal to own a radio that can be tuned, and the only radio or TV sets permitted are those pre-set to state channels. However, many tune in to foreign shows with smuggled Chinese radios and illegally altered North Korean sets. One weekly guest, defector Ko Ji-eun, said she was a fan of Kim's show while hiding in China for several years. After she arrived in Seoul last year, Ko met a fellow defector who had listened to the show while inside the North last year and has since fled to the South. "North Koreans are now using Chinese earphones not to expose themselves to authorities," Ko said. "Many people inside North Korea are listening to this radio a lot."

Good morning, North Korea! Defector preaches dangers of cult worship

For an hour every day, Kim Chung-seong, a defector from&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;and a Christian missionary, takes to the microphone in a small Seoul studio. 
At 1 am, his show, &quot;Hello from Seoul, the Republic of&nbsp;Korea&quot;, sends a mix of gospel music and news into&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea, defying the isolated state&#39;s efforts to keep its people in the dark about the world, religion and the truth about its leaders. 
&quot;Brothers and sisters in the&nbsp;North, I hope this time can be a moment of prayer for a miracle that every party member of&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;at the party congress can meet God, not take a further step into the cult of personality,&quot; Kim said. 
He was referring to the meeting of the&nbsp;North&#39;s ruling Workers&#39; Party this month, where young leader Kim Jong Un was unanimously elevated to party chairman. 
&quot;I am desperately praying that&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&#39;s Kim Jong Un and all administrators under him kneel down in front of God and repent for their sins, leave the path of tormenting their people,&quot; Kim, who came to the South in 2004, said in his studio at the Far East Broadcasting Company. 
North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;strictly bans access to outside information, but a growing number of&nbsp;North&nbsp;Koreans consume illicit media, including South&nbsp;Korean TV dramas that show the prosperity of life across the heavily fortified border, via contraband USB sticks and DVDs smuggled from China. 
The impoverished&nbsp;North&nbsp;is still technically at war with rich, democratic South&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty. It has also been slapped with UN and other sanctions for its nuclear and missile programmes. 
Robert King, U.S. special envoy for&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean human rights issues, told a Senate panel in October that up to 29 percent of&nbsp;North&nbsp;Koreans had listened to foreign radio and said the medium, including the U.S. government&#39;s Voice of America, remained the most important way to get information into the country. 
 
&quot;LISTENING UNDER THE BLANKET&quot; 
Kim Myung-jun,&nbsp;professor at Sogang University&#39;s school of mass communications in Seoul, said smuggled USB sticks and DVDs were more about entertainment, whereas radio carried news. 
&quot;Once you listen in, you tend to keep listening under the blanket. It gets you addicted,&quot; he said. &quot;AM radio stations like Far East Broadcasting Company have pretty good signals and can be listened to clearly in much of&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea.&quot; 
Kim, the broadcaster, said he tried to delegitimise the three-generation Kim family dictatorship and preach Christian gospel on his show, often with fellow defectors as guests. 
&quot;I am not saying everything is bad in&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea,&quot; said Kim, 39, who has hosted the show for six years. 
&quot;But, for example, if the party congress is meant to worship one particular person and make 20 million people that person&#39;s slaves, that is meaningless. That&#39;s what I am talking about on my show.&quot; 
North&nbsp;Korea&#39;s constitution guarantees freedom of religion provided it does not undermine the state, but outside of a small handful of state-controlled places of worship, no open religious activity is allowed. 
It is also illegal to own a radio that can be tuned, and the only radio or TV sets permitted are those pre-set to state channels. However, many tune in to foreign shows with smuggled Chinese radios and illegally altered&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean sets. 
&nbsp;Defector Ko Ji-eun, a weekly guest said she was a fan of Kim&#39;s show while hiding in China for several years. 
After she arrived in Seoul last year, Ko met a fellow defector who had listened to the show while inside the&nbsp;North&nbsp;last year and has since fled to the South. 
&quot;North&nbsp;Koreans are now using Chinese earphones not to expose themselves to authorities,&quot; Ko said. &quot;Many people inside&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;are listening to this radio a lot.&quot;

A defector from North Korea and a Christian missionary send news and gospel music to North Korea.

For an hour every day, Kim Chung-seong, a defector from North Korea and a Christian missionary, takes to the microphone in a small Seoul studio. At 1 am, his show, "Hello from Seoul, the Republic of Korea", sends a mix of gospel music and news into North Korea, defying the isolated state's efforts to keep its people in the dark about the world, religion and the truth about its leaders. "Brothers and sisters in the North, I hope this time can be a moment of prayer for a miracle that every party member of North Korea at the party congress can meet God, not take a further step into the cult of personality," Kim said. He was referring to the meeting of the North's ruling Workers' Party this month, where young leader Kim Jong Un was unanimously elevated to party chairman. "I am desperately praying that North Korea's Kim Jong Un and all administrators under him kneel down in front of God and repent for their sins, leave the path of tormenting their people," Kim, who came to the South in 2004, said in his studio at the Far East Broadcasting Company. North Korea strictly bans access to outside information, but a growing number of North Koreans consume illicit media, including South Korean TV dramas that show the prosperity of life across the heavily fortified border, via contraband USB sticks and DVDs smuggled from China. The impoverished North is still technically at war with rich, democratic South Korea because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty. It has also been slapped with UN and other sanctions for its nuclear and missile programmes. Robert King, U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, told a Senate panel in October that up to 29 percent of North Koreans had listened to foreign radio and said the medium, including the U.S. government's Voice of America, remained the most important way to get information into the country. "LISTENING UNDER THE BLANKET" Kim Myung-jun, professor at Sogang University's school of mass communications in Seoul, said smuggled USB sticks and DVDs were more about entertainment, whereas radio carried news. "Once you listen in, you tend to keep listening under the blanket. It gets you addicted," he said. "AM radio stations like Far East Broadcasting Company have pretty good signals and can be listened to clearly in much of North Korea." Kim, the broadcaster, said he tried to delegitimise the three-generation Kim family dictatorship and preach Christian gospel on his show, often with fellow defectors as guests. "I am not saying everything is bad in North Korea," said Kim, 39, who has hosted the show for six years. "But, for example, if the party congress is meant to worship one particular person and make 20 million people that person's slaves, that is meaningless. That's what I am talking about on my show." North Korea's constitution guarantees freedom of religion provided it does not undermine the state, but outside of a small handful of state-controlled places of worship, no open religious activity is allowed. It is also illegal to own a radio that can be tuned, and the only radio or TV sets permitted are those pre-set to state channels. However, many tune in to foreign shows with smuggled Chinese radios and illegally altered North Korean sets. Defector Ko Ji-eun, a weekly guest said she was a fan of Kim's show while hiding in China for several years. After she arrived in Seoul last year, Ko met a fellow defector who had listened to the show while inside the North last year and has since fled to the South. "North Koreans are now using Chinese earphones not to expose themselves to authorities," Ko said. "Many people inside North Korea are listening to this radio a lot."

Good morning, North Korea! Defector preaches on radio about the dangers of a personality cult

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