Did you know that the rogue state of North Korea has international radio broadcasting in Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Spanish, German, English, French and Russian? And did you know that the broadcasts in Russian can become actual radio hits, once a hip-hop beat is added to the background?
Social-media users discovered the unusual North Korean podcasts, which feature the Stalinist nation's state propaganda in heavily accented Russian. The instructions on how to listen to so-called North Korean-Russian hip-hop spread like wild fire across Twitter and Facebook.
The recipe is simple.
First, turn on the North Korean podcast in Russian. Podfm.ru internet-project has a large collection that updates regularly.
A typical podcast begins with a 50-second intro, a slowed-down melody of the North Korean marching song, "The Song of General Kim Il Sung" and greetings from a male and female radio hosts.
The latest available podcast from January 11, a 45-minute recording, begins with the intro and news about what Pyongyang claims was a successful first hydrogen bomb test. The broadcaster has a strong Korean accent in Russian, and he speaks rather monotonically.
Now, turn on a hip-hop beat. Many are available on Soundcloud.
Play the two recordings at the same time and enjoy.
Some internet-users have already put their favorite combos of North Korean broadcasts and hip-hop beats together for your convenience.
United Nations human rights investigators have accused North Korea's regime of committing crimes against humanity, including extermination, sexual violence, starvation, and slavery.
