Tony Hung (inset) has defended a program on North Korea to be aired by TVB next week, saying he only described what he was provided access to. Photo: TVB.com, Facebook
Television Broadcasts Ltd. (TVB), Hong Kong’s top free-to-air TV station, plans to air a tourism program about North Korea as scheduled next Monday despite concerns raised by a North Korean defectors’ rights group.
The company said on Wednesday that it will go ahead with the broadcast as it feels the program will present an accurate picture.
According to Apple Daily, the program features five episodes covering Pyongyang and the Sinuiju Special Administrative Region. It is said to have been filmed with assistance from the North Korean tourism department.
TVB claimed the program will be the first of its kind in Hong Kong that will reveals to viewers the real side of North Koreans.
However, a defectors’ rights group has questioned the content after program host Tony Hung said in a pre-broadcast news conference that North Korea is making good progress in its development.
In a statement, North Korean Defectors’ Concern group said the program was completed under the arrangement of the Pyongyang government and that the content may have been whitewashed to show the ruling regime in good light.
It asked TVB not to air it.
Hung said in response that he only described what he was able to see in the country, and that there was no way for him to shoot in other places in North Korea.
The Communications Authority said it is yet to receive any complaints about the TVB program and hence the regulator will not seek any modification of the content before it is aired.
If there are any complaints, it will follow normal procedures to deal with the issue, it said.
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