Far East Broadcasting Company-Korea is celebrating its 70th anniversary with a series of events continuing through December, marking seven decades of Christian broadcasting that has reached listeners in North Korea, China and Russia.
During a Sept. 30 press briefing at its Seoul headquarters, the network highlighted its long-running “Northern Mission,” a term used by Korean churches for outreach to North Korea and other communist or formerly communist countries where traditional missionary work was restricted during the Cold War, Christian Daily Korea reported.
FEBC-Korea said its programs reached underground believers in North Korea, China, Russia and Mongolia. Because its AM broadcasts travel farther at night, the network said its signal can cover all of North Korea as well as northeastern China and parts of Siberia.
The broadcaster also said some North Koreans secretly listened to sermons and hymns on hidden radios “with blankets pulled over their heads,” a practice it said was later confirmed by Christians who escaped the country.
American missionary Tom Watson established the station, which first went on air Dec. 23, 1956, from Incheon as the Korea Evangelical Broadcasting Station before eventually moving to Seoul.
The network expanded in 1973 after the U.S.-based Far East Broadcasting Company relocated a transmitter from Okinawa, Japan, to Jeju Island. The operation, known as Asia Broadcasting, focused on reaching communist countries, with the Rev. Billy Kim serving as its first director.
The Seoul and Jeju operations came under shared leadership in 1977 and were legally merged in 2001, when the Jeju station was renamed Jeju FEBC. Christian Daily Korea reported that the Jeju signal remains among the clearest Korean-language Christian broadcasts heard in North Korea and also carries programs in Chinese, Japanese and Russian.
FEBC-Korea currently operates 15 radio stations and 14 relay stations across South Korea, with Kim serving as chairman of the board.
Anniversary activities this year have included a launch ceremony, a pastors’ seminar, an Easter concert and evangelistic rallies. A choral festival is set for Oct. 15 at Busan Concert Hall, followed by a homecoming event Oct. 17 at Hanyang University in Seoul.
The anniversary observances will conclude with a thanksgiving service on Dec. 23, the date of the network’s founding, at its Seoul headquarters.
