The BBC has unveiled a proposal to launch a radio service in North Korea, but the U.K. government will never fund it without a dramatic shift in foreign policy, experts say.
"The BBC is trying to justify its public funding by showing that it can do something political that the private sector wouldn't do," said Aiden Foster-Carter, a senior research fellow specializing in both Koreas at Leeds University. "It's a clever move and will earn political brownie points, but it won't happen without government money. The North Korean government would be furious."
Michael Glendinning, who has campaigned for the launch of a BBC service in the so-called hermit kingdom, is just as skeptical.