DONATE

Author: Martyn Williams

  • Martyn Williams

    ·

    Report: DPRK again jams GPS signals

    North Korea attempted to jam GPS (global positioning system) satellite navigation signals in South Korea on Friday afternoon, according to a Yonhap News report that cited an unnamed South Korean defense official. Jamming is the act of broadcasting a signal on the same channel as the intended target service so as to confuse or interfere…

    ,

  • Martyn Williams

    ·

    UN Special Rapporteur calls for freedoms in DPRK

    The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the DPRK has called for increased freedom of information and access to independent media for the people of North Korea. The calls came in a 76-point report submitted on Feb. 21, 2011, to the UN’s Human Rights Council. The rapporteur, Marzuki Darusman, met with defectors, politicians and others in…

    , , ,
  • KCNA significantly increasing output

    Martyn Williams

    ·

    KCNA significantly increasing output

    The Korean Central News Agency has significantly increased its online output in the last few months as it continues to expand its new website. The website, available at kcna.kp (except in South Korea where it’s blocked), first appeared in October 2010 and is KCNA’s first official home on the web. KCNA news was previously available…

    , ,
  • KCNA reporting Chinese Internet filtering

    Martyn Williams

    ·

    KCNA reporting Chinese Internet filtering

    North Korea’s official news agency, KCNA, has reported three times in the past week on China’s filtering of the Internet. The reports come at an interesting time for free-speech online. Internet-based social networks and communications systems are being hailed as instrumental in protests that have toppled two Middle Eastern leaders and the U.S. has confirmed…

    , ,
  • Report: Cell phone rentals to visitors suspended

    Martyn Williams

    ·

    Report: Cell phone rentals to visitors suspended

    North Korea has suspended a cell-phone rental service for visiting foreigners, according to Japan’s Kyodo News. The suspension began in January and could, speculates Kyodo, “reflect concern in the North over the flow of information about democracy demonstrations sweeping the Middle East.” Telecommunications systems, including cell phones and the Internet, have proved instrumental in the…

    ,

  • Martyn Williams

    ·

    Rodong Sinmun launches website

    Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Worker’s Party of Korea and one of the most important propaganda tools of the DPRK government, has launched a website. The site was first reported on Thursday although appears to have been officially launched a day earlier on Feb. 16, which was Kim Jong…

    , , ,

  • Martyn Williams

    ·

    Website appears for LRIT maritime system

    North Korea appears to have taken the first steps towards putting a data center online for the maritime Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) system. The LRIT system was created by the International Maritime Organization in May 2006 and requires passenger and cargo ships automatically report their identity and location at least four times a…

    ,
  • Homefront: Battling North Korean invasion

    Martyn Williams

    ·

    Homefront: Battling North Korean invasion

    The year is 2027 and the Greater Korean Federation, a North Korea-controlled bloc of Asian nations, has been occupying San Francisco for two years. This is the fictional — and many would say unlikely — setting for Homefront, a video game that hits U.S. shelves on March 15. The game pits the player, a member…

    ,

  • Martyn Williams

    ·

    Pyongyang Earth Station

    In Pyongyang’s eastern suburb of Sadong lies one of North Korea’s gateways with the world. The satellite earth station, pictured below, links the country with international communications satellites. Construction of the earth station began in early 1984, a few months before North Korea joined the Soviet-led Intersputnik group. Back then, Intersputnik served as the satellite…

    ,

  • Martyn Williams

    ·

    3G users to hit 1 million this year, says report

    North Korea is expecting the number of 3G users in the country will reach 1 million this year, according to a Chinese television report. The prediction was made by a staffer of Chesin Commercial Corp., the government-linked company that runs North Korea’s international e-mail service, in an interview with Chinese Central Television (CCTV). “It is…

    ,