March 28, 2024

Journalism in North Korea

A discussion with Ishimaru Jiro, Rimjingang‘s editor and publisher, about journalism in and about North Korea.

After reporting on North Korea for 17 years, Ishimaru Jiro launched Rimjin-gang in 2007. Edited by Seoul-based defector Choi Jin-i, Rimjingang publishes reports about everyday life in North Korea, filed by a dozen underground North Korean journalists. It is the first publication to create a channel for two-way communication between the divided Korean people. Indeed, the title “Rimjin” is the name of the river (“gang”) that flows across the DMZ, connecting north and south.

The occasion for this discussion is the publication of Rimjingang’s first English edition.

Born in Osaka, Japan in 1962, Ishimaru Jiro, studied in Seoul for two and a half years. Ishimaru began reporting on North Korea in 1993, both from inside the country, and along its border with China. He is the Osaka representative of Asia Press.

Asia Press was founded in 1987 to support independent Asian journalism. The network consists of thirty journalists from Japan, South Korea, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and India.

In 2004, Asia Press began training North Korean refugees in journalism so that they could report on their country themselves. Their stunning undercover video and photographs have been shown around the world. A sample of their work will be on display.

The event is jointly sponsored by The Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute,
NYU’s Department of East Asian Studies and The New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU