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Samjiyon tablet sells for $546 in Ebay auction
A North Korean Samjiyon tablet computer sold for the impressive price of $546 on Ebay. The tablet first appeared on the site on November 7 with an opening bid of $4.15 — a likely reference to the April 15 birthday of Kim Il Sung — and attracted 53 bids over 10 days. The Samjiyon, which…
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Construction begins on Kaesong tech zone
North Korea began construction this week on a new industrial zone in Kaesong that it hopes will attract high-tech companies. The ground-breaking ceremony for the Kaesong Hi-Tech Industrial Park took place on Monday, less than a month after three foreign companies signed a deal with the government to work on design and construction of the…
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Did North Korea pirate Angry Birds?
One of the surprises in North Korea’s recently-launched Samjiyon (???) tablet was the inclusion of Angry Birds, the globally-popular game that involves shooting animated birds to destroy structures and animated pigs. In July, when I was reviewing the Samjiyon, I contacted game-maker Rovio to ask about its inclusion in the device. Despite several attempts to get comment,…
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Samjiyon tablet appears on Ebay
A model of North Korea’s Samjiyon tablet is up for sale on Ebay. It appeared on the morning on Thursday, November 7, and appears to have been listed by a Canadian account with a shipping location of Yanji in China. Yanji sits just across the border from North Korea. Its appearance followed a second-round of…
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Winter 2013/2014 radio broadcasts to North Korea
The various public and private radio stations that aim broadcasts at North Korea have just refreshed their broadcast schedules for the winter season. In addition to the publicly-funded outlets, there are several private stations. Their editorial balance at the stations differ although none are pro-regime stations. Some are jammed by North Korea making reception difficult —…
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UN to DPRK: Allow access to alleged prison camps
The chair of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea called this week on the country to allow them access to areas of North Korea that are said to contain prison camps. Speaking at a news conference in New York on Tuesday, Michael Kirby…
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KCNA adds higher resolution images
Regular visitors to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) might have noticed something different about the site in the last few days. The North Korean state-run news agency has begun publishing higher resolution photographers alongside articles. The change was first noted by Frank Feinstein, the New Zealand-based researcher who runs the KCNA Watch service. The…
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KCNA Watch attracts bans in North and South Korea
KCNA Watch, a website that collects articles, pictures and video from the Korean Central News Agency, isn’t making friends on either side of the Korean border. A communications regulator in South Korea has blocked access to the service while the North Korean government has restricted access to its services from New Zealand, apparently due to…
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Voice of Korea schedule for winter 2013/2014
Voice of Korea will switch to its winter 2013/2014 shortwave broadcasting schedule from October 27, 2013. The broadcasts follow the same basic line-up each day. :00 Opening signal, station identification: “This is Voice of Korea” :01 National Anthem :03 Song of General Kim Il Sung :06 Song of General Kim Jong Il :09 News, editorials…
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High-tech industrial park planned for Kaesong
The North Korean government appears to be planning a high-tech industrial park close to the current industrial park at Kaesong, on the North-South border. No official announcement of the project had been made, but on Thursday the state-run Korean Central News Agency said several foreign companies would be investing on such a park. The companies…