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Author: Martyn Williams

  • North Korean sites inaccessible for now

    Martyn Williams

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    North Korean sites inaccessible for now

    All of the North Korean web sites that target audiences outside of the country were in accessible Wednesday morning Korean time. The reason isn’t clear. Reports of a single server being inaccessible are common, but the site will often come back online within a few minutes or hours. It’s presumed those single outages are usually for…

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  • The North Korean YouTube List Updated

    Martyn Williams

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    The North Korean YouTube List Updated

    The North Korea YouTube List, a listing of YouTube channels carrying DPRK-related content, has been updated. The new version includes a couple of newly discovered channels, reordering with the most watched channels at the top and the separation of dormant channels that haven’t seen an upload in the last six months. The “DPRK Music” channel,…

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  • Pirate Bay comes clean on North Korea hoax

    Martyn Williams

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    Pirate Bay comes clean on North Korea hoax

    A little less than 24 hours after it first claimed to have set up shop in North Korea, The Pirate Bay website has confirmed what most observers suspected: it was all a hoax. Writing of the announcement and user reaction to its earlier claim, the site said it was a “stunt.” It even chastised some…

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  • The Pirate Bay says it’s gone to North Korea

    Martyn Williams

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    The Pirate Bay says it’s gone to North Korea

    Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more bizarre than Dennis Rodman hugging Kim Jong Un, the operators of The Pirate Bay site claimed Monday that they are now running from the North Korean Internet. The Pirate Bay is one of the Internet’s longest surviving pirate sites. It links to Bit Torrent files of…

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  • DPRK registers satellite with UN

    Martyn Williams

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    DPRK registers satellite with UN

    The DPRK has submitted registration papers for the recently launched Kwangmyongsong 3-2 satellite to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. The papers were dated January 24 but were only made available this week by the Vienna-based organization. They were submitted by the DPRK’s diplomatic mission in the city. They don’t provide any new…

  • Koryolink mobile Internet charges detailed

    Martyn Williams

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    Koryolink mobile Internet charges detailed

    Ever since it became known last week that foreigners in Pyongyang would be able to get access to mobile Internet services through Koryolink, the big unanswered question has been ‘how much?’. We now know, thanks to a report from China’s Xinhua News Agency, and prospective users might not like the answer. The news agency said a…

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  • Koryolink to give foreigners mobile data

    Martyn Williams

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    Koryolink to give foreigners mobile data

    Foreigners visiting North Korea should be able to get mobile data service on their cellphones within the coming week, according to a report on Friday. Koryolink, the country’s only 3G cellphone network, plans to allow visitors to buy mobile Internet when they arrive in the country, the AP said in a report from Pyongyang. The…

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  • Martyn Williams

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    YouTube zaps another Uriminzokkiri video

    Another Uriminzokkiri video has been removed from YouTube for copyright infringement. This time it’s a propaganda video that borrowed its soundtrack from the video game “The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.” The takedown, confirmed by a message when users attempt to access the clip, comes just two weeks after a previous propaganda video was removed after…

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  • Phoenix regains Sinji brand name

    Martyn Williams

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    Phoenix regains Sinji brand name

    Phoenix Commercial Ventures, one of North Korea’s few domestic/foreign IT joint ventures, has reacquired rights to the Sinji brand, trademark and associated intellectual property rights, it said Monday. Sinji was launched in 2005 as a software development company as a 50/50 joint venture with the Korea Committee for the Promotion of External Economic Cooperation (CPEEC), which reports to directly…

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  • (Un)Covering North Korea

    Martyn Williams

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    (Un)Covering North Korea

    Stanford University hosted a fascinating discussion on Monday that looked at the various ways in which the DPRK is covered from overseas. Called “(Un)Covering North Korea,” it was part of a day-long series of events associated with the awarding of the 2012 Shorenstein Journalism Award to Barbara Demick, Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times,…