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UK Foreign Office warns on taking digital media to North Korea
Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office is warning visitors to North Korea that they need to “carefully consider” any recorded video that they attempt to take into the country. The warning came in an update to the FCO’s travel advice for North Korea that was made on Tuesday. “Consider carefully any films or television programmes that…
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KCNA imposter website disappears
A website that on first glance closely resembled that of the state-run Korean Central News Agency, but in fact pointed to news articles critical of the country appears to be been taken offline. The English-language site was available at www.kcna.co and was modeled on the KCNA website run from Pyongyang at www.kcna.kp. On Thursday lunchtime (Korean time) the site disappeared…
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PUST turns out first undergraduates
The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology turned out its first round of undergraduates last week, marking a significant achievement for North Korea’s first privately-funded university. The 100 students received their Bachelors degrees in a ceremony in Pyongyang that was attended by the co-presidents of the university and members of the local diplomatic community. After graduation,…
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New Arirang smartphone caught on camera
North Korea’s Arirang smartphone has been upgraded. Recent photos of one of the phones show a new model that features an updated version of Google’s Android operating system. The phone was spotted by Aram Pan, a Singapore-based photographer who has made several trips to North Korea. He first posted them on his DPRK 360 Facebook…
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Reports: South Korean arrested on spying charges
A former officer in South Korea’s military reserve has been arrested on charges of passing documents to a North Korea agent, according to South Korean media reports. The individual, who was only identified as a 37-year old with the family name of “Jeon,” was arrested under the National Security Law for allegedly passing information to North Korea…
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Kwangmyong has been upgraded, says report
Kwangmyong, North Korea’s online information service, has been upgraded. The network serves scientific and technological information and has been expanded with a new search function that includes a translation function, according to a recent article on Naenara, the website of Pyongyang’s Korea Computer Center.
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63 years of Voice of Korea in English
North Korea’s English-language broadcasting service marks its 63rd birthday on Thursday, November 6. Broadcast now under the name “Voice of Korea,” the radio station was for decades known as Radio Pyongyang. Since 1951, it’s broadcast thousands of hours of English-language programming and today remains one of the few international radio stations that still uses shortwave…
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Sawiris takes charge of Koryolink parent
Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris has taken over as CEO of the parent company of Cheo Technology, which runs North Korea’s Koryolink 3G cellular telephone network. Sawiris assumed the top job at Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT) after the former CEO, Ahmed Abou Doma, stepped down for personal reasons. He had been CEO for less than a…
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Report: Twitter, Facebook blocked in North Korea
North Korea has begun blocking access to Twitter and Facebook on domestic Internet connections offered to foreigners, according to a report last week. If correct, the move is apparently the first active blocking of Internet access by the North Korean government and comes at a time when it appears to be slowly tightening the screws on…
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North Korean malware hit thousands of phones, says Seoul
Malicious software disguised as a computer game could have infected around 20,000 smartphones in South Korea, according to South Korean media reports quoting the country’s spy agency. The games were offered through South Korean sites between May 19 and September 16 this year, the National Intelligence Service said in a report to parliament. The apps have since been removed…
