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Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Voice of America to expand Korean service


The Voice of America plans to further expand its Korean service. From the start of the winter broadcast season at the end of October, the service was expanded from 3 hours to 3.5 hours a day. By October 2007, the service is expected to be on the air for five hours a day. The expansion plan also includes doubling its Korean service staff from the current 20 in Washington and opening a new office in Seoul.
The VOA began working out an expanded Korean service after Congress passed the North Korean Human Rights Act in October 2004 with a provision calling for boosting Korean-language radio broadcasts. According to VOA, a US private research agency estimates that 36 percent of North Koreans listen to its programmes at least once a week.
Dong Lee, Chief of the VOA’s East Asia and Pacific Division Korean Service, has been speaking to the Japan Times.
(Source: R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)