Radio for multicultural families in eight languages is here.

Last month I posted that radio for multicultural families would start broadcasting soon. From the Korea Times:

A radio station airing programs in nine different languages for foreign immigrants in Korea will start services Tuesday.

The Woongjin Foundation, a non-profit organization sponsoring multicultural and multilingual communities here, said the "The Multicultural Family Music Broadcasting" station will kick off its first regular airing for the 1.2 million foreign residents here.

The programs will be provided through www.wjk.kr and www.radiokiss.co.kr; satellite SkyLife channel 855 and cable TV C&M channel 811 for Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino (Tagalog and English) and Thai; and SkyLife channel 856 and C&M channel 812 for Arabic, Russian, Mogolian [sic] and Japanese.

The Joongang Ilbo had an article last week which reminded me of the program:

The number of foreigners residing in Korea recently surpassed 1.1 million, but it’s still hard for people from outside the English-speaking world to hear the familiar sound of home here.

That’s the mission of Multicultural Family Radio Broadcast, which the Woongjin Foundation and Digital Radio Kiss started in four languages - Thai, Filipino, Chinese and Vietnamese - on Aug. 15, 2008. Four more shows in Russian, Arabic, Mongolian, and Japanese started this month.

Each show, available online or via satellite television (audio only), lasts for 90 minutes and includes Korean language lessons, information on upcoming events and news and songs from home, according to Lee Kwang-hoon, head of Digital Radio Kiss’s programming and producing team.

The target for MFRB is mostly foreign residents married to Koreans and their families. Eight part-time D.J.s from Egypt, Russia, Thailand, the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Japan and Mongolia work at the station. Many of them are studying at universities in Korea, have broadcasting experience or earned degrees in Korean studies.

One thing that did not compute was that the radio stations didn't appear to actually be on the radio. You can tune in via some satellite TV programs or through the Woongjin Foundation website, in English here, which has lots of information. If you click on the "On Air" button, and then choose one of the two channels, you can listen and also see a timetable for when the certain languages will be on. Japanese, for example, is on at midnight, 6:00, 12:00, and 18:00, each time for ninety minutes each.