US government plans to smuggle radios into N Korea
The US government has now officially decided in principle to smuggle small radios into North Korea as part of its to $2 million annual plan to boost radio broadcasts toward North Korea. The idea is not new - and has been attempted on a small scale by unofficial groups, to the irritation of South Korea. In March 2003, police in the South blocked a Korean-American pastor, Douglas E. Shin, as he and colleagues prepared to send 700 radios across the border slung from 22 helium-filled balloons. However, using balloons is apparently not an option being taken seriously in Washington. "I don't see radios in balloons as particularly tenable," said an aide on Capitol Hill involved in the planning of the North Korea project.
Another plan that worked in Cuba has also been ruled out. In 2001 and 2002, American diplomats in Havana delivered more than 1,000 shortwave radios so Cubans could tune in to Radio Marti. The radios were taken to Havana in diplomatic pouches, but that's not possible in North Korea because the two countries don't have diplomatic relations.
#posted by Andy @ 08:20 UTC
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