North Korea Press Restrictions

The severe press restrictions in North Korea have lasting effects on all parts of the population. This includes the citizens, foreign reporters, and even the country’s praised leaders. If the country is to improve overall, the issues regarding censorship and press freedom must be addressed. Choe Sang-Hun, a New York Times correspondent and Pulitzer Prize winner, discusses the difficulties of publicizing articles in North Korea in his article “Rumors, Misinformation and Anonymity: The Challenges of Reporting on North Korea.” He explains the complicated process of finding sources: “Given the uncertainty and sensitivity surrounding North Korea, officials here habitually fall back on anonymity when talking to reporters … [we are] always trying

These restrictions are only for foreign journalists, though; North Koreans do not even have a free news outlet of their own in the first place. Nearly all of what is accessible to them is state-owned and typically consists of propaganda. The country’s restriction of the press does have a great effect on the citizens; however, it negatively impacts the country’s leader as well. As Andrei Lankov, a specialist of Korean studies and director of the Korea Risk Group, discusses in his commentary on North Korean censorship, without free newspapers and media to broadcast national events, a leader has no way to get information. Kim Jong Un must rely on reports from his subordinates. However, due to fear of punishment for slowed progress, these officials are likely to lie and idealize domestic and foreign affairs. This gives him a “distorted picture” of the state of his country (Lankov). If government reports are unreliable and the public media only distributes propaganda that sheds the country in a positive light, vital information about issues facing the country may never reach the