“This is the living proof that North Koreans are strongly intent on learning about the outside world,” says Kim Seung-chul of North Korea Reform Radio, which produces daily broadcasts for North Koreans to "encourage the development of independent public opinion inside the country."

“Those who live near China may buy Chinese radio, but those who don’t have to contact the local ‘underground radio-maker,’” said Kim, a former engineer who now heads the small radio operation from Seoul, which broadcasts news and commentary. As he speaks, he holds a basic North Korean radio made from wood.

“There are some people who make a living out of making the homemade radio like this one,” he says.

This particular radio reached Kim through North Korean defectors who brought it over when they came to South Korea in 2013, having purchased it from an underground radio merchant five years ago. The name and identity of the radio maker is unknown.

Plated with woodblocks on six sides, the radio weighs about 1.5kg. Despite its outdated appearance, the radio had most of the functions common to radios available in other countries.

One of the defectors who had used the radio is Park, who escaped North Korea last November.

“I have been listening to North Korea Reform Radio and other outside radio stations since 13 years ago,” said Park, who uses an alias because he wishes to remain anonymous.

Inside the homemade radio. Some of the components appear to have been made in China, and stripped from other devices Photograph: JH Ahn/NK News Photograph: JH Ahn/NK News

Using this homemade radio, Park says he could access Voice Of America, Radio Free Asia, North Korea Reform Radio, VOP, Radio Free Chosun and ONK over the past five years.

“Frankly, the ideological education in North Korea is so strong that many people including myself could not believe the content of the outside world radio,” he said of his first experience listening with the device. “I was once certain that this radio signal was sent by someone who was trying to deceive us.

“But this radio played a strong role in motivating me to escape North Korea. My friends and I used to regularly listened to NKRR and other radio programmes inside [an] underground hideout.

“Many told me to quit listening to those radio signals and start making money for myself. But with the help of this radio, I finally decided to escape the North.”

Radios are permitted in North Korea as long as they are tuned to only receive transmissions from government radio stations. Foreign journalists are usually portrayed as liars seeking to destabilise the regime.

Those who listen to foreign broadcasts take a significant risk. Under North Korean law, "listening to unauthorised foreign broadcasts and possessing dissident publications are considered 'crimes against the state' that carry serious punishments, including hard labour, prison sentences, and the death penalty," according to Freedom House.



Trying it out, NK News staff could easily connect the power to the radio, adjust the volume and change the frequency by turning the module attached to the radio. Though the functions were easy enough for anyone to learn in five minutes, the hardest part in operating this radio was finding the right frequency.



The top of the homemade North Korean radio Photograph: JH Ahn/NK News Photograph: JH Ahn/NK News

Unlike most modern radios, which can easily find frequencies with the assistance of digitally projected numbers on a screen, this handmade radio provides no visual aid. The radio, therefore, leaves users to depend totally on delicate hand skills to turn the manual module in tiny movements. Kim said once the defectors found the correct signal, they would keep the frequency module in place and not touch it, as it was far too tedious to find the same signal again.

The second difficulty was extending the internal antenna to catch a strong signal. As the radio only has a short internal antenna, North Koreans are required to wire the antenna to an external signal amplifier in order to catch a strong signal. This means that this radio is not a portable device, as it always requires a connection to an external device to make it audible. Once the connection to the external antenna is made, though, listeners may catch strong radio signals coming from all over Asia. NK News staff could listen to many Korean radio shows and even a radio signal from Japan.

The third problem was its low volume; it was hard to listen to the radio using the original speaker attached to the radio. In order to make it loud enough to be audible, we had to detach the original speaker and connect with the external amplifier. But for the defectors who owned the radio, the low volume had not been much of a problem, as they were forced to hide and listen to it extremely quietly only during the night (usually from about 11pm to 1am).

Information is very carefully controlled in North Korea, but foreign radio broadcasts are not the only medium delivering outside information to North Koreans. South Korean TV dramas smuggled in on USB sticks and DVDs are very popular, as are the laptops many use to play them. Mobile phones are also allowing some North Koreans to make illicit phone calls to people outside of the country.

A version of this article first appeared on NK News – a North Korea focused specialist news site