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SEOUL : A radio station said Tuesday it has started broadcasting speeches by South Korean presidential candidates to North Korea to educate the hardline communist nation about democracy.
Open Radio for North Korea said it transmitted a 30-minute speech by pro-government liberal candidate Chung Dong-Young on Monday evening.
"We will extend our programme to broadcast speeches of other leading candidates and related information," chief editor Han Kwan-Hee told AFP.
The Seoul-based station, funded by foreign rights groups including Freedom House of the United States, uses short-wave broadcasts.
"This programme, the first of its kind since Open Radio opened on December 6, 2005, is aimed at educating North Koreans about capitalism and democracy," Han said.
"We hope they will learn about elections in a democratic society."
Han conceded the programme can target only a small number of North Koreans due to jamming and a crackdown on illegal radios.
About 200,000 North Koreans are estimated to tune into banned foreign newscasts, he said.
North Koreans are allowed access only to state-run domestic media which extols the virtues of late "Great Leader" Kim Il-Sung and his son and successor Kim Jong-Il, known as the "Dear Leader."
Radios are sold with tuning knobs fixed to official stations. But new technology is breaking down barriers, defectors say.
Some North Koreans can pick up Chinese TV stations. Mobile phones, videotapes or DVDs of South Korean films, music and TV soap operas also enter via China, despite a steady campaign to suppress "decadent" foreign culture.
After decades of rule by authoritarian military-backed governments, South Korea achieved full democracy in 1987. Its presidential election is on December 19.
- AFP/ir
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