The BBC's Korean-language service, launched on September 25, is being “aggressively targeted” by North Korean jamming, according to a report in The Telegraph of London. The service broadcasts global news, sports, and features to the entire Korean Peninsula for 3 hours starting at 1530 UTC (12:30 AM in North Korea) 7 days a week on 1,431, 5,810, and 9,940 kHz.

The HF broadcasts are transmitted from Taiwan and Uzbekistan, while the MF broadcast comes from Mongolia, according to a report on the 38 North website operated by the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University. The two HF channels are being jammed, but it’s not clear if the MF channel is.

“As listening to foreign radio is illegal, the government makes a great effort to prevent people from doing so,” the 38 North report said. “At the most basic level, it modifies radios so they cannot be tuned into anything but state-run channels, although that can be later reverse engineered.”

BBC Korea is part of a major expansion of BBC language services. It joins South Korea’s KBS and two US networks — Voice of America and Radio Free Asia. “A handful of religious broadcasters also target North Korea as does South Korea’s National Intelligence Service,” the 38 North report said. — Thanks to Southgate Amateur Radio News and The SWLing Post for some information