In Mar., Voice of America (VOA), which had halted operations under an executive order by President Donald Trump in Mar., reportedly resumed broadcasts to North Korea recently.
According to the Washington Post (WP) and NK News on the 24th (local time), acting director Carrie Lake of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) appeared as a witness at a hearing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on the 9th regarding the suspension of VOA operations and noted that VOA's broadcasts to North Korea resumed on the 28th of the previous month. USAGM oversees VOA and Radio Free Asia (RFA).
According to the reports, the resumed broadcasts to North Korea are conducted in Korean. Lake did not comment on the specifics of the broadcasts.
When asked why the broadcasts were restarted, she said, "There was discussion on this issue, and we recently decided to do so based on the president's (Trump's) social media post about Korea."
Asked what Trump's post about Korea was, Lake said, "I don't remember the exact part," but added, "Something critical about what happened in the Republic of Korea, questioning what is going on within the leadership of the Republic of Korea."
NK News speculated that the post Lake mentioned appeared to be one Trump uploaded to social media on the 25th of the previous month, a few hours before his summit with President Lee Jae-myung. At the time, Trump wrote, "What is happening in Korea? It looks like a purge or a revolution."
NK News also noted that the Lee Jae-myung administration halted loudspeaker broadcasts in border areas and the military's radio broadcasts to the North after taking office, adding, "It is unclear whether the resumption of VOA broadcasts is intended to offset this."
Lake, a former news anchor and a hard-right Republican politician, served as a special adviser to USAGM before becoming acting director in Jun.
In Mar., the Trump administration significantly downsized USAGM, VOA's parent organization, as part of a sweeping reduction of federal agencies, and as a result VOA effectively ceased operations. The VOA union pushed back, calling the Trump administration's decision illegal and filing a lawsuit.