North Korean Fishing Captain Executed for Listening to American Radio

NORTH KOREA has executed a fishing captain after he admitted to listening to Radio Free Asia, a government-sponsored American radio station, regularly while out at sea.

The captain was in charge of a 50-ship fleet and has been identified as a man in his 40s named Choi. He took advantage of his long periods spent at sea by tuning into Radio Free Asia (RFA), a state-funded American network. All foreign media and news are strictly forbidden in North Korea, which has one of the world’s strictest censorship regimes.

Choi reportedly developed a taste for RFA as a 24-year old military radio engineer and had continued listening over two decades later. He was reported to authorities by a disgruntled crew member and confessed to officers that he was a regular RFA listener.

His execution by firing squad took place in front of 100 other sea captains and fishing officials as a stark warning to seamen against using their voyages to circumvent the regime’s censorship.

Radio Free Asia began broadcasting in 1951 and is designed to offer counter-narratives to listeners living in oppressive regimes. The network broadcasts six hours of Korean language material into North Korea every day.

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