Chairman Salmon Introduces Bill to Fight North Korea's Stranglehold of Information

Press Release

Rep. Matt Salmon, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, introduced the Distribution and Promotion of Rights and Knowledge (DPRK) Act to update programs that broadcast information radio into North Korea and provide new technologies, improved content, and greater access of information to empower the people of North Korea.

"Knowledge is power--especially in one of the most secretive and secluded societies on earth. Now, as Kim Jung Un continues to destabilize the region, he uses misinformation to brainwash the North Korean people into thinking that America is their enemy. The DPRK Act will build on the United States' long history of working to educate those behind the curtain of oppressive regimes and will win the hearts of North Koreans with the message of freedom and liberty. We have the power to show North Koreans the brighter future that awaits them if the regime gives up its nuclear weapons."

Background: The North Korea Human Rights Act of 2004 authorized funding for radio broadcasting programs to deliver basic knowledge of the outside world to the people of North Korea, similar to our successful efforts of the Cold War era with the former Soviet bloc. The Distribution and Promotion of Rights and Knowledge (DPRK) Act of 2016 would update this program to provide new technologies, improved content, and greater access of information to empower and provide human security to the people of North Korea.

Source