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North Korea’s Health App Offers Medicines on Demand
North Korea’s Ministry of Health has launched an online drug and medical product delivery service based in a smartphone app. The app is called “건강” (Health) and also allows patients to consult medical practitioners without going to a hospital and consult a database of common medical questions and answers. The app underscores how North Korea…
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North Korea Revised its Space Law to Permit Military Use
North Korea revised its Space Development Law (우주개발법) in 2022 to allow for use of space for national defense purposes. Specifically, it removed sentences that previously committed to only peaceful uses of space and opposed the militarization of space and now threatens countermeasures on countries that attempt “unfriendly acts” on its space program. It expands…
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Welcome to NK TechLab
The North Korea Tech Lab is a new center for investigation and analysis into how North Korea uses technology to serve and suppress its citizens. Today, North Korea is increasingly employing technology for both the benefit and detriment of its citizens. For example, one the one hand, smartphones provide many with a way to stay…
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North Korea’s Smartphone Market Expands as Border Restrictions End
The variety of smartphones available in North Korea has more than doubled in the last two years, and at least 10 companies are now fighting for the attention of consumers. Some companies have even started following the marketing strategies of overseas competitors by offering multiple versions at different price points, giving consumers more choice than…
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What We Learned Inside a North Korean Internet Server: How Well Do You Know Your Partners?
A misconfigured North Korean Internet cloud server has provided a fascinating glance into the world of North Korean animation outsourcing and how foreign companies might be inadvertently employing North Korean companies on information technology (IT) projects. The incident also underlines how difficult it is for foreign companies to verify their outsourced work is not potentially…
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Digital Surveillance in North Korea: Moving Toward a Digital Panopticon State
Digital technology is progressively entering into different facets of life in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) and reshaping the landscape of its society, especially in Pyongyang. Smartphones can now facilitate electronic payments; set-top boxes offer additional TV and streaming options; cameras keep watch on traffic in major cities; and electronic…
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A Close-up Look at North Korea’s Digital Map App
Since around 2017, North Koreans with smartphones have had a new way to navigate around Pyongyang. An application (app) called “길동무” or “Fellow Traveler” offers a directory of the city and hundreds of shops, restaurants, hotels and other locations and might be the closest thing the country has to Google or Apple Maps. The app…
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New Satellite Could Provide Internet Access to North Korea…Someday
North Korea’s attempts to block foreign information from the country could soon face their most significant challenge to date. After years of combating the smuggling in of information via USBs, SD cards and other portable data delivery devices, as well as jamming of radio and satellite signals throughout the country, a new type of telecommunications…
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Twenty Years of Mobile Communications in North Korea
Two decades ago this month, North Koreans in Pyongyang and Rason were the first in the nation to get a taste of cellular telephony. In a country where landline phones were still the exception rather than the rule, mobile communications had the potential to revolutionize the way people communicate. Data from recent interviews with North…
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North Korea’s Koryolink: Built for Surveillance and Control
Eavesdropping and network security were the top concerns of the North Korean government in the months before Koryolink, the country’s current mobile network service, was launched in December 2008, according to minutes of a May 28, 2008 meeting in Kuala Lumpur between engineers from the Korea Posts and Telecommunications Co. (KPTC) and Orascom Telecom which…