Korean Central News Agency

{{Short description|North Korean state news agency}} {{Redirect|KCNA|the radio station in Oregon|KCNA (FM)|the radio station in Arizona|KIKX (Arizona)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2014}} {{Infobox company | name = Korean Central News Agency | logo = Logo of the Korean Central News Agency (new).svg | logo_size = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | image = | image_size = | image_alt = | image_caption = Screenshot of KCNA website | native_name = {{Infobox Korean name/auto | child = yes | hangul = ^조선_중앙_통신; ^조선_통신사 | hanja = 朝鮮中央通信; 朝鮮通信社 }} | former_name = | type = State-owned | industry = News agency | founded = {{start date and age|1946|12|05}} | founder =  | hq_location = 1 Potonggang-dong, Potonggang District | hq_location_city = Pyongyang | hq_location_country = North Korea | num_locations = Many municipal offices, correspondents and bureaus in six other countries | num_locations_year =  | area_served = International | key_people = Kim Chang-gwang (Director General) | parent = | products = | brands = | services = Media | owner = Korean Central Broadcasting Committee  | num_employees = 800 | num_employees_year =  | website = {{URL|http://www.kcna.kp/en|kcna.kp}} }} The '''Korean Central News Agency''' ('''KCNA'''; {{Korean|hangul=조선중앙통신}}) is the state news agency of North Korea.<ref name="Hoare2012"/><ref>{{cite web |title=North Korea |url=https://rsf.org/en/country/north-korea |website=Reporters Without Borders|date=July 6, 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=In North Korea, the state-run news agency is the weapon of choice |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/in-north-korea-the-news-agency-is-the-weapon-of-choice/2013/04/28/88f3003e-aff2-11e2-bbf2-a6f9e9d79e19_story.html |agency=Washington Post |date=April 28, 2013}}</ref> The agency portrays the views of the North Korean government for both domestic and foreign consumption. It was established on December 5, 1946, and now features online coverage.<ref name="Shrivastava2007">{{cite book|last=Shrivastava|first=K. M.|title=News Agencies from Pigeon to Internet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MHujEBLJcvIC&pg=PA211|year=2007|publisher=New Dawn Press Group|location=Elgin|isbn=978-1-932705-67-6|page=211}}</ref>

==Organization== KCNA works under the Korean Central Broadcasting Committee, through which it is ultimately controlled by the Workers' Party of Korea's Propaganda and Agitation Department.<ref>{{Cite web | title = KWP Propaganda and Agitation Department | work = North Korea Leadership Watch | date = November 2009 | access-date = 27 May 2018 | url = https://nkleadershipwatch.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/kwppropagandaandagitationdepartment.pdf | pages=1–2}}</ref> In December 1996, KCNA began publishing its news articles on the Internet with its web server located in Japan. Since October 2010, stories have been published on a new site, controlled from Pyongyang, and output has been significantly increased to include world stories with no specific link to North Korea<ref>{{cite news|title=KCNA significantly increasing output|url=http://www.northkoreatech.org/2011/03/04/kcna-significantly-increasing-output/|date=March 4, 2011|publisher=North Korea Tech}}</ref> as well as news from countries that have strong DPRK ties.

In addition to Korean, KCNA releases news translated into English, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish. Access to its website, along with other North Korean news sites, has been blocked by South Korea since 2004 and can be accessed only through the government's authorization.<ref name=ft-20100401>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/d77d855e-3d26-11df-b81b-00144feabdc0 |title=Sinking underlines South Korean view of state as monster |author=Christian Oliver |date=April 1, 2010 |publisher=Financial Times |location=London |access-date=April 2, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924144941/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d77d855e-3d26-11df-b81b-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=September 24, 2015 }}</ref><ref>[http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2009/05/27/65/0401000000AEN20090527010500325F.HTML North Korea Newsletter No. 56 (May 28, 2009)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110914150359/http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2009/05/27/65/0401000000AEN20090527010500325F.HTML |date=September 14, 2011 }}. Yonhap. May 28, 2009.</ref> As well as serving as a news agency, it also produces summaries of world news to North Korean officials and publishes the ''{{ill|Korean Central Yearbook|ko|조선중앙년감}}''.<ref name="Hoare2012"/><ref name=oananews/><ref>{{Cite book |script-title=ko:조선중앙년감 |publisher=WorldCat |oclc=873700160 }}</ref> It is also alleged to conduct clandestine intelligence collection.<ref>Henderson, Robert (2003). ''Brassey's International Intelligence Yearbook: 2003 Edition.'' Brassey's. p. 292. {{ISBN|978-1-57488-550-7}}.</ref>

Based in the capital Pyongyang, at 1 Potonggang-dong, Potonggang District,{{sfn|Pares|2005|p=188}} KCNA has bureaus in several municipalities.<ref name="Hoare2012">{{cite book|last=Hoare|first=James E.|title=Historical Dictionary of Democratic People's Republic of Korea|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rh5h4bZgkhEC&pg=PA231|year=2012|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=London|isbn=978-0-8108-7987-4|page=231|chapter=Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)}}</ref> KCNA also has press exchange agreements with around 46 foreign news agencies,{{sfn|Pares|2005|p=}}{{Page needed|date=September 2015}} including South Korea's Yonhap.<ref>[http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/AboutUs/index.html About Us] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080331173904/http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/Aboutus/index.html |date=March 31, 2008 }}, ''Yonhap''.</ref> Its closest partners, however, are TASS and Xinhua News Agency.<ref name="Hoare2012"/> KCNA has correspondents and bureaus in six countries, including Russia and China.<ref name=mm>{{Cite web|url=http://www.koreascope.com/zbxe/?mid=e150&category=5164&document_srl=60097&listStyle=&cpage=|title=Koreascope Mass Media|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412223513/http://www.koreascope.com/zbxe/?mid=e150&category=5164&document_srl=60097&listStyle=&cpage=|archive-date=April 12, 2009}}</ref> The correspondents are located in Russia, China, Cuba, Iran, India, and Egypt.<ref name=oananews/> KCNA also collaborates with Reuters and the Associated Press, the latter of which has a permanent bureau in Pyongyang. KCNA journalists have trained abroad with the BBC and Reuters.<ref name="Hoare2012"/> KCNA is a member of Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies since 1982.<ref name="Hoare2012"/><ref name=oananews/> The agency employs 800 people.<ref name=oananews/>

According to its website, KCNA "speaks for the Workers' Party of Korea and the DPRK government". The agency has been described as the "official organ."<ref>Quick, A. C. (2003). ''World Press Encyclopedia: A Survey of Press Systems Worldwide.'' (2nd eds.) Gale. {{ISBN|978-0-7876-5584-6}}.</ref> In June 1964 on one of his first official activities, Kim Jong Il visited KCNA headquarters and said the agency should be "propagating the revolutionary ideology of the leader (Kim Il Sung) widely throughout the world."<ref>Lee, H. (2001). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=6Rx8Q_cxqvkC&pg=PA67 North Korea: A Strange Socialist Fortress]''. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 67. {{ISBN|978-0-275-96917-2}})</ref> However, the agency is also said to offer a unique insight into the North Korean "mentality."<ref>Bennett, G. & Dresner, D. (1999). ''Directory of Web Sites''. Taylor & Francis. pp.580. {{ISBN|978-1-57958-179-4}}.</ref><ref>[http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/KP_FAM.htm?v=links North Korea Hunger] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412211710/http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/KP_FAM.htm?v=links |date=April 12, 2009 }}. Reuters. July 10, 2008.</ref>

A talk given to officials at KCNA on June 12, 1964, outlines the function of the news agency:

{{blockquote|In order to become a powerful ideological weapon of our Party, the Korean Central News Agency must provide a news service in accordance with the idea and intention of the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, establish Juche firmly in its work and fully embody the Party spirit, the working class spirit and the spirit of serving the people. It must pay serious attention to each word, to each dot of the writings it releases because they express the standpoint of our Party and the Government of our Republic.<ref name=talk>[http://libweb.uoregon.edu/ec/e-asia/read/borg-77.pdf A Talk to the Officials of the Korean Central News Agency June 12, 1964] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327103507/http://libweb.uoregon.edu/ec/e-asia/read/borg-77.pdf |date=March 27, 2009 }}. KFA.</ref>}}

Despite the agency's political motives, it has on occasion acknowledged food shortages in the country.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7472833.stm Is North Korea facing famine?], ''BBC News'', June 25, 2008.</ref> The Ryongchon disaster was also reported in April 2004, after a delay of two days.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040507234112/http://atimes.com/atimes/Korea/FE07Dg02.html Reeling, hungry, N Korea heads to nuke talks]. ''Asia Times Online''. May 7, 2004.</ref><ref>''[http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2004/200404/news04/24.htm KCNA Report on Explosion at Ryongchon Railway Station] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430045007/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2004/200404/news04/24.htm |date=April 30, 2011 }}'', KCNA, April 24, 2004.</ref>

The Director General of KCNA is Kim Chang-gwang.<ref name=oananews>{{Cite web |title=KCNA |work=OANA NEWS |access-date=17 August 2022 |url= http://www.oananews.org/agencies/KCNA }}</ref> KCNA has a sports team in the annual Paektusan Prize Games of Civil Servants.<ref name="naen_TheP">{{Cite web | title = Civil servants play basketball tournament | agency = KCNA | work=The Pyongyang Times | date = 2017-01-26 | access-date = 2017-05-16 | url = http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/order/pytimes/?page=Sports&no=23584 | archive-date = November 27, 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171127071355/http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/order/pytimes/?page=Sports&no=23584 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

==Recurring themes== ===Editorial practices=== KCNA employs language, such as "traitors", "warmongers" or "human scum", for governments (especially those of South Korea and the United States), organizations and individuals who are deemed characteristic of those terms.<ref>{{cite web|title=KCNA Commentary Blasts S. Korean Mandarin's Hysteric Remarks |agency=KCNA|date=January 30, 2013 |url=http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2013/201301/news30/20130130-21ee.html |access-date=January 31, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524072952/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2013/201301/news30/20130130-21ee.html |archive-date=May 24, 2013 }}</ref> In contrast, KCNA promotes the popularity of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong Un,<ref name="mm" /><ref>[http://www.rsf.org/print.php3?id_article=13430 Reporters without Borders 2005 report] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413040657/http://www.rsf.org/print.php3?id_article=13430|date=April 13, 2009}}</ref><ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6037715.stm Meagre media for North Koreans] . BBC News. October 10, 2006.</ref> who are credited for their "outstanding wisdom", "unique abilities" or "noble virtue".<ref>{{cite web|title=Kim Jong Un Elected First Chairman of NDC of DPRK |agency=KCNA|date=April 13, 2012 |url=http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201204/news13/20120413-44ee.html |access-date=January 31, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510091258/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201204/news13/20120413-44ee.html |archive-date=May 10, 2012 }}</ref> KCNA articles emphasize the names of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un by enlarging their names to appear larger than the rest of the text.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Williams |first1=Martyn |date=25 December 2011 |title=State websites raise name of Kim Jong Un |url=https://www.northkoreatech.org/2011/12/25/state-websites-raise-name-of-kim-jong-un |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419000753/https://www.northkoreatech.org/2011/12/25/state-websites-raise-name-of-kim-jong-un |archive-date=19 April 2017 |access-date=28 April 2023 |website=North Korea Tech |publisher=Martyn Williams |language=en-us}}</ref>

Because of this, KCNA is often considered as a fake news website by many critics.<ref>{{cite web |title=How to Fight Against North Korea's Fake News? |url=https://www.osavul.cloud/blog/how-to-fight-against-north-korea-fake-news |publisher=Osavul}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=King |first1=Robert |title=Fake News from Pyongyang! How North Korea is Using the Internet |url=https://keia.org/the-peninsula/fake-news-from-pyongyang-how-north-korea-is-using-the-internet/ |publisher=KEIA |access-date=27 July 2020}}</ref>

===New Year editorials=== As a tradition since 1996, KCNA, along with the three main state run newspapers in North Korea, publishes a joint New Year editorial that outlines the country's policies for the year. The editorials usually offer praise for the Songun policy, the government and leadership, and encourage the growth of the nation. They are also critical of the policies of South Korea, Japan, the United States and Western governments towards the country.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5000E620090101?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=10112 North Korea issues New Year denuclearization pledge] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413182818/http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5000E620090101?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=10112 |date=April 13, 2009 }}. Reuters. December 31, 2008.</ref><ref>[https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/01/113_37114.html N. Korea Vows to Rebuild Economy in New Year Message] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609220142/https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/01/113_37114.html |date=June 9, 2016 }}, the Korea Times, January 1, 2009.</ref> On January 1, 2006, the agency sent out a joint-editorial from North Korea's state newspapers calling for the withdrawal of American troops from South Korea.<ref>[http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2006/200601/news01/02.htm#1 "Joint New Year Editorial Issued"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524082616/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2006/200601/news01/02.htm |date=May 24, 2013 }}, KCNA, January 1, 2006.</ref> While annual January 1 editorials are a tradition among the papers, that year's brought attention from Western media outlets, by calling for a "nationwide campaign for driving out the U.S. troops".<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,180301,00.html "North Korea Demands U.S. Troop Withdrawal"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310202147/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C180301%2C00.html |date=March 10, 2007 }}. Fox News. December 31, 2005.</ref> The editorial made several references to Korean reunification. The 2009 editorial received similar attention, as criticism of United States policy was absent, and the admission of severe economic problems in the country. The editorial also made reference to denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula, in what analysts claimed was a "hopeful" sign.<ref>[http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2009/200901/news01/20090101-02ee.html 2009 Joint New Year Editorial Issued] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325033325/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2009/200901/news01/20090101-02ee.html |date=March 25, 2009 }}, KCNA, January 1, 2009.</ref><ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7806785.stm North Korea message is mild on US] . BBC News. January 1, 2009.</ref> This was echoed again in its 2010 editorial, which called for an end to hostilities with the United States and a nuclear free Korean Peninsula.<ref>Kim, Sam (January 1, 2010). [http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2010/01/01/73/0401000000AEN20100101002100315F.HTML N. Korea calls for end to enmity with U.S., hints at return to nuclear talks] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226065139/http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2010/01/01/73/0401000000AEN20100101002100315F.HTML |date=February 26, 2012 }}. Yonhap.</ref>

The 2011 joint editorial edition, aside from its calls for a denuclearized Korea and for a slowdown of tensions between the two Koreas, has for the first time, mentioned the rising light industries of the DPRK, given as a reason for an upcoming upsurge in the national economy in the new year and for the achievement of the Kangsong Taeguk national mission.<ref>{{Cite news |title=North Korea Says Regional Tensions Should Be Defused |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-01-01/north-korea-in-new-year-message-says-regional-tensions-should-be-defused |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208101206/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-01-01/north-korea-in-new-year-message-says-regional-tensions-should-be-defused |archive-date=2023-02-08 |access-date=2025-08-04 |work=Bloomberg.com |language=en}}</ref>

The 2012 joint editorial edition, the first under Kim Jong Un's leadership, started with a great tribute to Kim Jong Il and aside from recurring calls for improving inter-Korean relations and for the fulfillment of the October 4 Declaration of 2007, also called on the whole nation to give priority to do Kim Jong Il's 2012 mission of Strong and Prosperous Nation, continue his and his father Kim Il Sung's legacies to the entire country and the socialist cause, and to build up and encourage the various sectors that compose the nation to become contributors to national progress in all areas at all costs.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}

This practice ended in 2013 when Kim Jong Un delivered the first New Year speech on television in 19 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=North Korea's Kim Jong-un makes rare new year speech |publisher=BBC News |date=1 January 2013 |access-date=8 November 2021 |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-20880301 }}</ref>

===Censorship=== Following the purge and execution of Jang Song-thaek, KCNA conducted its largest censorship operation on its webpage. Some 35,000 articles of Korean-language original reporting were deleted. Counting translations, a total of 100,000 articles were removed. Additionally, some articles were edited to omit Jang's name.<ref name="Florcruz2013">{{Cite web | title = Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) Deletes Online Archive Of News After Execution Of Jang Song Thaek | last = Florcruz | first = Michelle | work = International Business Times | date = 16 December 2013 | access-date = 23 July 2017 | url = http://www.ibtimes.com/korean-central-news-agency-kcna-deletes-online-archive-news-after-execution-jang-song-thaek-1510758 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170907170430/http://www.ibtimes.com/korean-central-news-agency-kcna-deletes-online-archive-news-after-execution-jang-song-thaek-1510758 | archive-date = September 7, 2017 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> Not all of the deleted articles mentioned Jang directly.<ref name="Weiser2016">{{Cite web | title = On Reading North Korean Media: The Curse of the Web | last = Weiser | first = Martin | work = Sino-NK | date = 31 October 2016 | access-date = 23 July 2017 | url = http://sinonk.com/2016/10/31/on-reading-north-korean-media-the-curse-of-the-web/ | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170907170426/http://sinonk.com/2016/10/31/on-reading-north-korean-media-the-curse-of-the-web/ | archive-date = September 7, 2017 | df = mdy-all }}</ref>

==See also== {{Portal|Journalism|North Korea}} * Communications in North Korea * Media of North Korea * Yonhap News Agency, South Korean equivalent

==References== === Citations === {{reflist|2}}

===Works cited=== * {{Cite book|last=Pares|first=S|year=2005|title=A Political and Economic Dictionary of East Asia: An Essential Guide to the Politics and Economics of East Asia|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-85743-258-9}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} {{Wikinews category}} * {{Official website}} * [http://www.nk-news.net/search.php STALIN] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112024551/http://www.nk-news.net/search.php |date=November 12, 2020 }} archives (January 1996–present) * [https://discover.dtic.mil/ Older archives] at Defense Technical Information Center * [https://kcnawatch.org/ KCNA Watch archives] by NK News * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120617093508/http://libweb.uoregon.edu/ec/e-asia/read/borg-77.pdf Kim Jong Il (1964): "A Talk to the Officials of the Korean Central News Agency", June 12, 1964] at the Korean Friendship Association

Category:1946 establishments in North Korea Category:Mass media in Pyongyang Category:News agencies based in North Korea Category:North Korean news websites Category:North Korean propaganda organizations Category:Organizations established in 1946 Category:Conspiracist media