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Introducing The North Korea Book Store
It sure seems like 2015 is the year of the North Korea book. There have already been a number of high profile autobiographies by defectors and journalists and specialists continue to turn out books that look at the country, its leader and its future. So, to bring all these books together into one place and…
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KCNA Japan site isn’t down, it’s geo-blocked
Sometime in early July, the long-time Japan-based site carrying Korean Central News Agency stories became inaccessible. That was bad news because it carried an archive of KCNA stories going back 18 years and each story had a unique URL, which made it perfect to hyperlinking back to previous articles (There are many KCNA links on North…
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Clocks will go back 30 minutes for Pyongyang Time
North Korea will next week take the unusual step of creating its own time zone by shifting clocks back by 30 minutes. Pyongyang Time is being created by a decree of the Supreme People’s Assembly that was issued on Wednesday but wasn’t reported until Friday by the Korean Central News Agency. The decree said the decision to…
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KCNA parody Twitter account claims another victim
It’s happened again … and it won’t be the last time. The parody DPRK News Service Twitter account has fooled someone and made it onto national television in the U.S. The subject in question was a couple of computer problems that hit United Airlines and the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning. The United…
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New cellular carrier is run by local ISP, says source
The new cellular carrier run by the North Korean government to compete with Koryolink is being run by a local Internet service provider, according to a source in Pyongyang. The ISP, called Byol (?) or Star, is targeting the wireless service at North Koreans. Star currently offers wired Internet connections to foreigners in Pyongyang at a…
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A peek inside North Korea’s intranet
Not much is known about North Korea’s intranet — the Internet-like system that links up libraries, universities and other organizations throughout the country but goes no further than the country’s borders. Few foreigners get a chance to access it and delve into the websites and services it offers, but thanks to sharp-eyed Aram Pan and his DPRK360…
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At least two satellites ready to fly, scientists tell CNN
North Korea has at least two more satellites ready to fly “at any time,” two of the country’s space scientists have told CNN in an interesting interview conducted in Pyongyang. The interview builds on one given a month ago to The Associated Press during which one of the two National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) officials said…
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Rodong Sinmun website gets a facelift
The design of the website of North Korea’s main daily newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, was refreshed on Monday. The new site has fewer pictures on the front page and leads with a list of stories. And being North Korean, features detailing the work of Kim Jong Un receive top billing.The site’s most useful feature, the…
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End of an era as Tokyo’s Korea Book Center closes
Tokyo’s best source of North Korean books is no more. The Korea Book Center has shuttered its website a month after its physical store was closed. The store in the Hakusan neighborhood was operated by the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, better known locally as “Chosen Soren,” and provided a place to pick up…
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Koryolink faces big problems with cash, competition
Orascom Telecom, the majority owner of North Korean cellular network Koryolink, is facing major problems getting its money out of North Korea and now has new competition from its partner, the government, in the form of a rival cellular network. The new network was recently launched in competition with Koryolink and the two parties are currently discussing merging the…
