KPVZ News

> "You're listening to KPVZ News, It is another beautiful day in the United Federation with highs in the mid-to-upper fiftees and strong winds expected from the east.
>
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## Voice of the People's Freedom

the **KPVZ News** is the Z-Tech controlled radio station operating in the UFSR. they function as a communications grid that was developed, used and maintained by Z-Tech and later by the United Federation. KPVZ has a near-instantaneous communications network commissioned by Z-Tecj to provide a free flow of hologram communication and information exchange among member worlds. It vastly sped up communications, which had previously depended on more circuitous subspace transmissions or relays.

## Overview

Along with the usual news reports such as weather, it also reports on new laws dictated by the Z-Tech.Admin. It first broadcasts in English, then in all langauges. As opposed to the Voice of the Empire which broadcasts propaganda news in the occupied states, KPVZ broadcasts news. KPAR can be heard in Robert Jacobs' apartment before he answers the door, and after he is rescued by the Resistance. The second broadcast is informing people that the Resistance members were responsible for the deaths of the civilians caught in the skirmish that took place during Jacobs' rescue.

As opposed to the KPA-censored radio stations, the Voice of Freedom reports KPA atrocities in the occupied states and voicing support for the American Resistance movement.

The Voice of Freedom can be heard at the beginning and end of each of the levels of *Homefront*, informing citizens of what took place during the level, and in the case of Heartland offers a warning about the Survivalists to the Resistance. He is last heard before Golden Gate describing the state of the U.S. Armed Forces; but going on to compare this war to the American Revolutionary War and also explaining how the Korean-American War is "a war of the people, by the people."

The **Korean Central News Agency** (**KCNA**) is the state news agency of North Korea. 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.

## Organization[edit]

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. 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 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. As well as serving as a news agency, it also produces summaries of world news to North Korean officials and publishes the *Korean Central Yearbook [ko]*. It is also alleged to conduct clandestine intelligence collection.

Based in the capital Pyongyang, at 1 Potonggang-dong, Potonggang District, KCNA has bureaus in several municipalities. KCNA also has press exchange agreements with around 46 foreign news agencies,[*page needed*] including South Korea's Yonhap. Its closest partners, however, are Itar-Tass and Xinhua News Agency. KCNA has correspondents and bureaus in six countries, including Russia and China. The correspondents are located in Russia, China, Cuba, Iran, India, and Egypt. 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. KCNA is a member of Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies since 1982. The agency employs 800 people.

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." 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." However, the agency is also said to offer a unique insight into the North Korean "mentality."

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

> 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.
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Under the principle and guideline on the work of ideological propaganda and agitation put by the country's ruling party, the Workers' Party of Korea, the agency generally reports only good news about the country that is intended to encourage its people and project a positive image abroad. Nonetheless, it has on occasion acknowledged food shortages in the country. The Ryongchon disaster was also reported in April 2004, after a delay of two days.

The Director General of KCNA is Kim Chang-gwang. KCNA has a sports team in the annual Paektusan Prize Games of Civil Servants.

## Recurring themes

KCNA articles generally revolve on several specific themes (examples in reference section):

* Detailing performances of cultural events, usually attended by various dignitaries.
* Decrying the actions and attitudes of the United States, Japan, South Korea and other nations, particularly concerning military cooperation, historical events or trade among those nations. Personal attacks on American, Japanese and South Korean leaders are common.
* Airing the official DPRK position on ongoing disputes with Japan over such matters as Chongryon and comfort women.
* Noting the celebration of DPRK events and ideas in other countries.
* Calling for the reunification of Korea under the Juche ideology.
* Promoting the popularity of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong Un. Such instances would detail the daily routines of the leaders, or praise from friendly organisations in other countries.
* Communications, visits and gifts (it does not name the particular gift) to and from various like-minded or friendly nations. Regarding the number of gifts, KCNA claimed that former leader Kim Il Sung receives "2,910 a year, 243 a month and 8 a day."
* New technological developments, such as a preservation agent for the Kimjongilia flower, a new kind of pesticide and "blood purifying" rings and bracelets [a quack remedy], amongst others.
* Emphasizing 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.
* References to institutes, groups or centres "for the study of the Juche idea". For example, a KCNA report from June 12, 2011, claimed that "The Brazilian Center for the Study of the Juche Idea was inaugurated with due ceremony at Sao Paulo University on June 4". The article also refers to an unnamed "chairman" (who presumably presided over the ceremony), but this supposed event was not reported by a source other than KCNA as of the date of the article (eight days after the ceremony was alleged to have occurred).