A/HRC/25/CRP.1 school, brainwashing through education, this happens everywhere in life, society, even at home … North Korea is not open to the outside world, is a fenced world. So nothing should come through that fence. Even listening to the radio, this is restricted to certain channels. They want the people to be blind, deaf to the outside world, so that the people won’t know what is happening.”174 (a) Control of television and radio 198. There are four television channels that are broadcast in the DPRK. One channel is for the “ordinary people”, i.e. outside Pyongyang, called Chosun Central Television. Another channel is only for Pyongyang residents called Education and Cultural Broadcasting. A third channel, Kaesong Television, is broadcast to the ROK. On weekends, there is a fourth channel for foreigners called Mansudae Television. Foreigners in Pyongyang can watch the other channels in the Korean language whereas Mansudae Television broadcasts programmes in their original language with subtitles in Korean. There are programmes in Chinese and Russian. People in Pyongsong, Nampo, and other regions close to Pyongyang can also watch those channels meant for Pyongyang residents such as Education and Cultural Broadcasting and Mansudae Television.175 199. In addition to direct propaganda programming, there may be other programmes with songs and dramas. Their underlying message, however, remains about being loyal to the state. Even a romance between a man and a woman typically includes their pledging allegiance to the government.176 Cinema is also directed, under the instructions of Kim Ilsung and Kim Jong-il, to “play a mobilizing role in each stage of the revolutionary struggle.”177 200. When people buy television sets in the DPRK, they have to register the television with a government authority, the Transmission Surveillance Bureau of the SSD, referred to as Department or Bureau 27. This bureau is responsible for modifying the equipment so that it is able to receive only the approved channel(s) and to block off television channels broadcast from the ROK, China and Russia. The DPRK also deploys sophisticated jamming equipment to block foreign television broadcasts.178 However, such jamming efforts face limitations considering they are energy-intensive while the DPRK commonly suffers from energy shortages. 201. Due to the different capabilities of radio wave frequencies and the changing radio signals depending on atmospheric conditions and solar activity, it is much harder to control radio transmissions. For example, the radio channel used to listen to “Chosun Central Broadcasting” (a state-approved channel) in the summer switches to an ROK radio channel called “One-Nation Broadcasting” in the winter. For this reason, the state does not normally permit ordinary DPRK residents to own radios. Radios inside cars and automobiles are removed before ordinary DPRK citizens can acquire a vehicle. DPRK citizens are allowed to own cassette recorders. These are usually foreign produced and come equipped with a radio; the “Communication Maintenance Bureau” and Ministry of People’s Security (MPS) is responsible for removing the radio components of the cassette recorder before it can be 174 175 176 177 178 TAP003. TAP009. Ms Jeong Jin-hwa, Seoul Public Hearing, 22 August 2013, afternoon. A quotation by Kim Il-sung in Kim Jong-il, “The Cinema and Directing” (Pyongyang, Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1987). Available from http://www.korea-dpr.com/lib/209.pdf. TAP009. 55