22 U.S.C. § 7814: Actions to promote freedom of information

The President is authorized to take such actions as may be necessary to increase the availability of information inside North Korea by increasing the availability of sources of information not controlled by the Government of North Korea, including sources such as radios capable of receiving broadcasting from outside North Korea, USB drives, micro SD cards, audio players, video players, cell phones, wi-fi, wireless internet, web pages, internet, wireless telecommunications, and other electronic media that shares information. In accordance with the sense of Congress described in section 7813 of this title , the President, acting through the Secretary of State, is authorized to distribute or provide grants to distribute information receiving devices, electronically readable devices, and other informational sources into North Korea, including devices and informational sources specified in paragraph (1). To carry out this paragraph, the President is authorized to issue regulations to facilitate the free-flow of information into North Korea. In accordance with the authorization described in paragraphs (1) and (2) to increase the availability and distribution of sources of information inside North Korea, the President, acting through the Secretary of State, is authorized to establish a grant program to make grants to eligible entities to develop or distribute (or both) new products or methods to allow North Koreans easier access to outside information. Such program may involve public-private partnerships. In accordance with the sense of Congress described in section 7813 of this title , the Broadcasting Board of Governors may broadcast American, Korean, Chinese, and other popular music, television, movies, and popular cultural references as part of its programming. In accordance with the sense of Congress described in section 7813 of this title , the Broadcasting Board of Governors should broadcast to North Korea in the Korean language information on rights, laws, and freedoms afforded through the North Korean Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and any other applicable treaties or international agreements to which North Korea is bound. Efforts to improve information access under this subsection should include religious communities and should be coordinated with the Office of International Religious Freedom to ensure maximum impact in improving the rights of religious persons in North Korea. 180 days after July 20, 2018 , the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Broadcasting Board of Governors, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that sets forth a detailed plan for improving broadcasting content for the purpose of targeting new audiences and increasing listenership; and a description of the effectiveness of actions taken pursuant to this section and sections 5583 and 5584 of the Otto Warmbier Countering North Korean Censorship and Surveillance Act of 2022, including data reflecting audience and listenership, device distribution and usage, and technological development and advancement usage; the amount of funds expended by the United States Government pursuant to section 403; 1 and 1 See References in Text note below. other appropriate information necessary to fully inform Congress of efforts related to this section. There are authorized to be appropriated to the President $3,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 through 2022 to carry out subsection (a). Amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations under paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available until expended. Not later than 1 year after October 18, 2004 , and annually through 2022, the Secretary of State, after consultation with the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report, in classified form, on actions taken pursuant to this section. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2015, 1 the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a classified report that sets forth a detailed plan for making unrestricted, unmonitored, and inexpensive electronic mass communications available to the people of North Korea. The information landscape in North Korea is the most repressive in the world, consistently ranking last or near-last in the annual World Press Freedom Index. Under the brutal rule of Kim Jung Un, the country’s leader since 2012, the North Korean regime has tightened controls on access to information, as well as enacted harsh punishments for consumers of outside media, including sentencing to time in a concentration camp and a maximum penalty of death. Such repressive and unjust laws surrounding information in North Korea resulted in the death of 22-year-old United States citizen and university student Otto Warmbier, who had traveled to North Korea in December 2015 as part of a guided tour. Otto Warmbier was unjustly arrested, sentenced to 15 years of hard labor, and severely mistreated at the hands of North Korean officials. While in captivity, Otto Warmbier suffered a serious medical emergency that placed him into a comatose state. Otto Warmbier was comatose upon his release in June 2017 and died 6 days later. Despite increased penalties for possession and viewership of foreign media, the people of North Korean have increased their desire for foreign media content, according to a survey of 200 defectors concluding that 90 percent had watched South Korean or other foreign media before defecting. On March 23, 2021 , in an annual resolution, the United Nations General Assembly condemned ‘the long-standing and ongoing systematic, widespread and gross violations of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’ and expressed grave concern at, among other things, ‘the denial of the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion . . . and of the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, and association, both online and offline, which is enforced through an absolute monopoly on information and total control over organized social life, and arbitrary and unlawful state surveillance that permeates the private lives of all citizens’. In 2018, Typhoon Yutu caused extensive damage to 15 broadcast antennas used by the United States Agency for Global Media in Asia, resulting in reduced programming to North Korea. The United States Agency for Global Media has rebuilt 5 of the 15 antenna systems as of June 2021. in the event of a crisis situation, particularly where information pertaining to the crisis is being actively censored or a false narrative is being put forward, the United States should be able to quickly increase its broadcasting capability to deliver fact-based information to audiences, including those in North Korea; and the United States International Broadcasting Surge Capacity Fund is already authorized under section 316 of the United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994 ( 22 U.S.C. 6216 ), and expanded authority to transfer unobligated balances from expired accounts of the United States Agency for Global Media would enable the Agency to more nimbly respond to crises.” to provide the people of North Korea with access to a diverse range of fact-based information; to develop and implement novel means of communication and information sharing that increase opportunities for audiences in North Korea to safely create, access, and share digital and non-digital news without fear of repressive censorship, surveillance, or penalties under law; and to foster and innovate new technologies to counter North Korea’s state-sponsored repressive surveillance and censorship by advancing internet freedom tools, technologies, and new approaches.”