Korea: BBC World Service
(asked on 12th December 2022) - View Source
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they expect BBC World Service transmissions to the Korean Peninsula will continue; if so, whether they expect that there will be a reduction in output; what discussions they or BBC management have had with the staff who run the BBC Korean Service about its future; and whether they will publish the feedback from any such discussions.
Answered by
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO strongly values the BBC's role in bringing high quality and impartial news to global audiences, particularly where free speech is limited.
As part of BBC plans announced on 29 September, the BBC Korean Service will be moving to Seoul - BBC have stated that changes are being implemented by April 2023, subject to consultation with staff and trade unions. The BBC is operationally and editorially independent from Government, and it is for them to comment on matters relating to staffing and service delivery.
The FCDO supports BBC Korean through the World 2020 programme, providing £94.4m annually to fund 12 language services. According to the BBC's Global Audience Measure, BBC Korean reaches an audience of 0.7m weekly - it is extremely difficult to measure audience reach inside North Korea, where access to international media is extremely limited.