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First Post
17 hours ago
- Politics
- First Post
Radio silence: Trump's fund cuts gift Kim Jong-un a tighter grip on North Korea's ‘mind apartheid'
As US-funded broadcasts are slashed, millions of North Koreans are left more isolated than ever cut off from the outside world and solely at the mercy of the regime's propaganda read more In the world's hermit kingdom, the rulers appear anything but hermits — the face allegations of relentlessly hounding their hapless citizens in a, what many describe as, barbaric fashion, crushing human rights as a hippopotamus crushes a watermelon: with brute force and no second thought. While the rest of the world thrives fighting for greater and unrestricted access to information, those in North Korea are understood to live under an apartheid of the mind, cut off from realities of the world, deliberately by a regime that distorts or blocks information to suit its grip on power. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD For many in North Korea, the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia stood as rare lifelines — vital sources of uncensored news for the bold few willing to risk everything to tune in. But that's now a thing of the past. In a Maga move, US President Donald Trump — who once claimed he 'developed a very good relationship' with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un — pulled the plug from these radio services. A switch in DC, silence in Pyongyang When the US Senate passed a funding cut earlier this month, it effectively ended decades of American support for independent media channels that had managed to pierce North Korea's ironclad information barrier. The decision prompted widespread alarm as it became obvious that this move could plunge North Korea's 26 million citizens into even deeper informational darkness, a report in South China Morning Post said. Broadcasts from the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia — two long-standing American-backed radio channels — had served as vital channels, providing North Koreans with unfiltered insights into global affairs, human rights and life beyond their tightly controlled borders. The radio programmes reportedly saw their broadcasts reduced by as much as 80 per cent after an executive order issued by Trump in March called for the dismantling of their parent agency, the United States Agency for Global Media, the Hing Kong-based newspaper reported. Silence after the signal North Korea experts, including Human Rights Watch's Teppei Kasai, expressed concern that this informational blackout would hinder international awareness of North Korea's worsening human rights situation. According to Martyn Williams, a senior fellow at the Stimson Centre, the timing could not have been better for Pyongyang's censors. In his analysis for 38 North, he observed that North Korean propagandists had been battling the flow of foreign broadcasts for decades. Suddenly, with no effort on their part, the playing field had tilted decisively in their favour, the South China Morning Post reported. From unity to discord The blow to North Korea-focussed media and human rights efforts didn't occur in a vacuum. For nearly two decades, the North Korean Human Rights Act had anchored America's engagement with the country on a bipartisan basis. Passed in 2004 and renewed in subsequent years, the legislation ensured funding for radio broadcasts, satellite analysis and human rights documentation. These efforts informed everything from US sanctions policy to United Nations reports on crimes against humanity. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD However, that act quietly expired in 2022. Though funding had temporarily continued through the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour (DRL), recent cuts proposed by the Trump administration aim to all but eliminate DRL's global funding. Human rights advocates have warned that this move will not only gut existing projects but destroy the infrastructure and institutional expertise necessary to rebuild them later, senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch Lina Yoon wrote in Foreign Policy in Focus. Real-world consequences The stakes go far beyond theoretical policy losses. Civil society organisations once supported by the act are now struggling to survive. Groups like the Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, which had previously traced illicit financial networks tied to North Korea's cyber theft operations, are at risk of shuttering. The DailyNK, a Seoul-based newsroom that reports using sources inside North Korea, may soon fall silent. Similarly, the Transitional Justice Working Group, known for its geocoding of execution and burial sites using scapee testimony and satellite imagery, may no longer be able to continue its work, Lina wrote. She feared that cutting off these data sources would severely compromise the US government's ability to make informed policy decisions. A regional reversal Compounding the problem, the recently elected South Korean administration under President Lee Jae-myung has reportedly taken a softer stance toward Pyongyang. In addition to ending government-led broadcasts into the North, Seoul has banned activists from launching balloons containing leaflets, rice, medicine and cash across the demilitarised zone. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Human rights observers noted that while this strategy may aim for diplomatic rapprochement, it simultaneously weakens the already scarce flow of outside information into North Korea. Williams from the Stimson Centre told South China Morning Post that the reduced broadcasts would leave North Koreans even more cut off from both local and global events. In a deteriorating security climate, such isolation could come at a high price, not only for North Koreans but for neighbouring countries and allies relying on accurate, timely intelligence. Why the world should pay attention The broader message from policy analysts and human rights organisations is clear: supporting independent media in North Korea is not charity — it's strategy, said Lina. And yet, the Trump administration's broad-stroke cuts threaten to erase years of painstaking progress. Organisations holding DRL grants, including the Unification Media Group and the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights, may soon have no funds left to continue. Radio Free Asia has already ceased its Korean-language broadcasts, a move that could embolden Pyongyang's censors and silence dissident voices before they ever reach the airwaves. A future in the dark? Unless the US Congress takes urgent action to renew the North Korean Human Rights Act and protect funding for programmes that monitor and expose the regime's abuses, the world could lose its last windows into the country. As one expert put it, North Korea thrives in the dark. And with Washington now dimming the light, the shadows are growing longer.
American Military News
6 days ago
- Politics
- American Military News
Taiwan holds annual live-fire, air raid drills that simulate Chinese attack
This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission. Air-raid sirens blared in Taipei and other cities in northern Taiwan on Thursday, part of annual drills testing the country's response to a potential invasion by China. Police stopped personal vehicles and public buses and directed pedestrians into shelters, such as basements and subway stations. Some shops and restaurants pulled down shutters and turned off lights, moves aimed to reduce their visibility during a potential nighttime attack. The drills also involved simulating wartime aid distribution and a mass-casualty event. Earlier this week, Taiwanese forces held their largest-ever military drills, which included simulating a response to an amphibious invasion of the Penghu Islands. Troops fired Javelin missiles, machine guns and tank rounds at maritime targets. Taiwanese forces also conducted maritime drills around the Matsu Islands involving speed boats, drones and mortars. Soldiers fired from rubber speed boats and positions on shore, responding to a simulated 'grey zone harassment' of the islands by Chinese Coast Guard and fishing vessels. In an early morning drill, Taiwan's military police used Taipei's subway system as it simulated the redeployment of troops and supplies. Taiwan's military also practiced securing and defending a major bridge in Taipei. This time they were firing blanks. Taiwanese military officials said the Han Kuang drills replicate full combat conditions, including simulated enemy attacks on communications and command systems and a full-blown invasion scenario.
American Military News
21-07-2025
- Business
- American Military News
U.S. Secretary of State Rubio meets Chinese Foreign Minister Wang at ASEAN
This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that he had 'positive and constructive' talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, amid tensions over tariffs and trade. Rubio was in Malaysia on his first Asia trip since taking office, looking to stress U.S. commitment to the region at the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum, as countries received notices of U.S. tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump this week. At a Thursday photo-op before the start of the U.S, Japan, Philippines trilateral meeting, Rubio learned the summit's signature 'ASEAN-way' handshake. 'How do we do that?' Rubio asked. 'The ASEAN-way' replied Philippines' Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro. Japan's Prime Minister Takeshi Iwaya then grabbed Rubio's hands and crossed them, with the three standing and smiling with the traditional cross-armed handshake for cameras. Rubio also met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov where they discussed the Russia-Ukraine war.
American Military News
16-07-2025
- Business
- American Military News
Video: U.S. Secretary of State Rubio meets Chinese Foreign Minister Wang at ASEAN
This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that he had 'positive and constructive' talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, amid tensions over tariffs and trade. Rubio was in Malaysia on his first Asia trip since taking office, looking to stress U.S. commitment to the region at the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum, as countries received notices of U.S. tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump this week. At a Thursday photo-op before the start of the U.S, Japan, Philippines trilateral meeting, Rubio learned the summit's signature 'ASEAN-way' handshake. 'How do we do that?' Rubio asked. 'The ASEAN-way' replied Philippines' Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro. Japan's Prime Minister Takeshi Iwaya then grabbed Rubio's hands and crossed them, with the three standing and smiling with the traditional cross-armed handshake for cameras. Rubio also met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov where they discussed the Russia-Ukraine war.
Japan Forward
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Forward
In Next Dalai Lama Search, China Should Keep Its Nose Out
このページを 日本語 で読む The 14th Dalai Lama, the supreme leader of Tibetan Buddhism, has declared that his successor will be selected by the traditional method. That means, after his death, a search will be conducted by Tibetans themselves to identify his "reincarnation." Only the person they identify will become the 15th Dalai Lama. "They should accordingly carry out the procedures of search and recognition in accordance with past tradition.... No one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter," the Dalai Lama said. This statement amounted to a stern declaration to the Chinese communist authorities not to interfere in the process. The People's Republic of China has already announced a policy of not recognizing anyone other than its own candidate to become the 15th Dalai Lama. However, there is no way that the Tibetan people will look up to an illegitimate "imposter Dalai Lama." Beijing should end its inhumane, forced assimilation policies and respect Tibetan religion and culture. The 14th Dalai Lama turned 90 on July 6. At the age of two, he was recognized by the Tibetan government at the time as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. He was formally installed in that position in 1940, at the age of four. Chinese police patrol in front of the Potala Palace in Tibet's capital Lhasa in a file photo. (Radio Free Asia via Central Tibetan Administration) However, the People's Liberation Army occupied Tibet in 1951, and the resistance efforts in various places were harshly suppressed. As a result, the 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet's ancient capital of Lhasa in 1959. He thereafter established a government in exile in Dharamsala in northern India. The year 2025 marks 60 years since China established the Tibet Autonomous Region with Lhasa as its capital in 1965. Ever since, Beijing has encouraged large numbers of Han Chinese to migrate to the region. It has also implemented an assimilation policy designed to strip Tibet of its unique culture and religion. As a result, portraits and photographs of the 14th Dalai Lama have been removed from Buddhist temples and other buildings and replaced by images of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Government security personnel are regularly stationed at temples in Tibet, and numerous surveillance cameras have been installed in their precincts. In effect, the Tibetan people are forced to practice their faith under smothering controls amidst a pervasive atmosphere of fear. Followers of Tibetan Buddhism believe the Dalai Lama to be an incarnation of the Bodhisattva Kannon. But he is more than just a religious leader. Since the 17th century, the Dalai Lama has also led the Tibetan government. As its highest authority, he has also been a figure uniting religion and the state. Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, exchanges greetings with former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in June 2023 (©REUTERS) Regardless of the prohibitions issued by the Chinese government, ordinary Tibetans continue to display portraits and photographs of the Dalai Lama in their homes. China should not turn a blind eye to the reality that the Dalai Lama continues to be a pillar of spiritual support for the Tibetan people. Ever since he began his self-exile, the 14th Dalai Lama has consistently maintained a non-violent stance. Meanwhile, he has also spread awareness of the reality of Chinese oppression to the world. In 1989, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions to world peace, religion, and culture. Regarding this latest statement on reincarnation, the international community, including Japan, should support the position of the 14th Dalai Lama. It must not accept Chinese intervention in a purely Tibetan matter. Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun このページを 日本語 で読む
