Author: Martyn Williams

  • Sochi Olympics coverage on KCTV

    Sochi Olympics coverage on KCTV

    Every time the Olympics or World Cup come around, there’s the question of whether viewers in the DPRK will be able to see the major sporting events. Korean Central Television (조선중앙텔레비죤) often manages to air portions of the events, but only with technical assistance from other organizations. And so this year, for the Winter Olympics…

  • DPRK again one from bottom on press freedom ranking

    DPRK again one from bottom on press freedom ranking

    North Korea has held on to its position as the second-worst country in the world for press freedoms, according to the latest annual survey by Reporters Without Borders. The report, published on Wednesday, put North Korea at position 179. During 2013, the country was singled out for particular criticism by the group for media coverage of…

  • Internet coming to Kaesong Industrial Zone

    Internet coming to Kaesong Industrial Zone

    Officials from North and South Korea have come to an agreement that should allow limited Internet access inside the Kaesong Industrial Zone, the jointly-run manufacturing complex just north of the inter-Korean border. The agreement was reached during talks on Friday, according to reports quoting South Korea’s Unification Ministry. South Korean managers who work at the factories…

  • North Korea YouTube List updated

    North Korea YouTube List updated

    It’s been almost a year since I published the second edition of The North Korea YouTube List, a survey of YouTube channels that carry material related to North Korea. The latest version includes several new channels and changes throughout. Perhaps the biggest change is that the DPRK Music Channel, previously ranked as the most popular…

  • TV Review: Educating North Korea

    The BBC’s Panorama news documentary series visited The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology recently for a revealing look behind the unique school. The program, broadcast on BBC One on February 3, begins summarizing the Kim’s control over the country and its people and reminds us that Kim Jong Un recently had his uncle, Jang Song…

  • North Korea’s Red Star OS goes Mac

    North Korea’s Red Star OS goes Mac

    Poor Microsoft. It seems North Korea doesn’t like the traditional Windows-look anymore. The latest version of the country’s home-grown operating system, Red Star Linux, has been restyled and ships with a desktop that closely resembles Apple’s Mac OSX. The previous version was based on the popular KDE desktop that mimicked that of Windows 7. Red…

  • Japan, US to increase intelligence sharing

    Japan, US to increase intelligence sharing

    Japan is sharing an increasing amount of intelligence information with the United States and emerging as a great partner in East Asia, the U.S. director of national intelligence said Thursday. Speaking during a public hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee in Washington, James Clapper said the two countries were working more closely together on intelligence…

  • Internet access, computers and high-tech life at PUST

    Internet access, computers and high-tech life at PUST

    Will Scott, a computer scientist from Washington state, just returned from several months as a guest lecturer at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST). In an interview with North Korea Tech and in posts on Reddit, Scott spoke about what it’s like to be at PUST. This is part two of a three-part…

  • Experiences of a PUST teacher

    Experiences of a PUST teacher

    Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) is one of the more ambitious international ventures in North Korea of the last few years. Almost ten years in planning, PUST is the country’s first privately-run university and backed with funds from evangelical Christian organizations in the U.S. and overseas. It currently has several hundred students and…

  • New CRS report on North Korea

    New CRS report on North Korea

    The Congressional Research Service has published a new report on North Korea. The report, “U.S. Relations, Nuclear Diplomacy, and Internal Situation,” is embedded below. CRS works for the U.S. Congress and produces objective and impartial reports that are intended to provide policy makers in the House and Senate with analysis of current issues. The organization is…