Korea Archives - Peter's DX Corner

Thanks to a tip from Hugo Matten I was made aware of a transmission of the Unification Media Group via the 300 kW Tamsui transmitters in Taiwan.

QSL Unification Media Group, via Tamsui, Taiwan on 5900 kHz

In addition to the nice eQSL card they made me aware that I used an incorrect name. It is not “National Unity Radio” (which reminds me of NUG Radio broadcasts from Taiwan directed at Myanmar). They would like to be referred to as Unification Media Group (UMG):

Dear Peter Reuderink,

Thank you for listening to our broadcast. We will gladly send you a QSL card to confirm your reception report.

Please note that our organization’s name is Unification Media Group (UMG), not “National Unity Radio.” We are aware that an incorrect name may be appearing in some places, which seems to have been set arbitrarily by the broadcaster facility. We would appreciate it if you could refer to us as UMG in the future.

Best regards,
UMG team

5900 kHz is the frequency on which Overcomer Ministry and Bible Voice broadcast from Kostinbrod in Bulgaria. The transmissions of UMG between 2000 and 2100 UTC should be exactly in between Kostinbrod programs, but my reception still suffered from interference from a Brother Stairs/Overcomer Ministry transmission. At the start of the program the UMG station ID was however an easy catch:

According to their website Unification Media Group (UMG) is a news and entertainment production organization focused on North Korea.
Through video, radio, and online news, UMG brings the latest developments from North Korea to South Korean and international audiences in addition to North Koreans themselves. UMG is helping to increase global awareness of North Korean issues and is arming the people of North Korea with the freedom of information.

While radio has fallen out of favor in much of the world, radio remains the only way to provide North Korean residents with information in real-time. Moreover, since it does not leave behind physical evidence or require expensive technology, it is considered one of the safest and most accessible media platforms in the DPRK. Unification Media Group (UMG) has been broadcasting radio programming to North Korean audiences since 2005. Currently, UMG produces and broadcasts three hours of programming each day, including local and international news, civic education and cultural programs. According to a Gallup survey conducted in 2015, 2-3% of North Korean citizens said they have previously listened to UMG broadcasts. North Korean citizens can listen to UMG’s programming with short-wave radios, and overseas workers can listen to recordings uploaded daily to the UMG website.

Currently their are good conditions to receive some of the Weather Fax Stations from the Far East in the late afternoon, say between 17:00 and 21:00 UTC . The Japan Meteorological Agency is one of them on 13988.5 kHz, The callsign JMH is easily spotted top left:

They broadcast a satellit image at 19:10 h UTC:

Another station is Guangzhou Radio on 16826.25 kHz. Very clear image and ID, unfortunatly I didn’t sync them very well. I received them on 12629.25 kHz as well, but in lesser quality.