North Korea Diverts Television Transmission From China To Russian Satellite, South Korea Has Difficulty Monitoring

UNSPLASH/Eloi Smith telecommunications Tower/ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - North Korea has transferred state TV broadcasts to Russian satellites from Chinese satellites. This transmission transition makes it difficult for South Korean government and media agencies to monitor broadcasts, the South Korean Ministry of Unification reported.

The signal from the Korean Central Television in North Korea was carried by the Russian satellite, Express 103, starting June 29, not the ChinaSat 12 satellite, South Korea's satellite service provider told Reuters on Monday, July 1.

The company declined to be named because this issue was called sensitive.

The satellite change follows Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to North Korea in June, where he met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The two signed an agreement to deepen cooperation in all fields including a collective defense pledge.

Although watching North Korean TV online can still be done with lower quality.

South Korean government agencies and media are monitoring North Korean state media as a source of limited information originating within the closed country, although the content is highly politicized and correlated.

North Korea has stopped using existing Chinese satellites and is starting to transmit broadcasts via Russian satellites, and satellite broadcast receptions are limited in some areas of our territory, said a Unification Ministry official.

Official entities in South Korea require access to satellite services to watch North Korean broadcasts, and the general public is prohibited from accessing North Korean media.