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Pyongyang Crypto Conference Site Goes Blank
The website of the 2020 Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference went blank on Friday, two days after a news report said United Nations sanctions experts are poised to warn people not to attend the event. The conference is organized by the Korean Friendship Association, a Spain-based group of overseas supporters of North Korea, and attendance…
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US cryptocurrency expert arrested for violating North Korean sanctions
Virgil Griffith, a U.S. cryptocurrency expert, was arrested in Los Angeles on Thursday accused of violating U.S. sanctions against North Korea for this attendance at a cryptocurrency conference in Pyongyang in April this year. Griffith, who is due to appear in federal court later on Friday, is charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency…
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North Korea launches another new website, this time for international trade
North Korea is on something of a website roll at present. The online Manmulsang e-commerce portal launched a few weeks ago, last week it opened DPRK Portal and this week it’s a foreign trade portal. The site says its run by the Ministry of External Economic Relations and has launched in Korean, English, Chinese and…
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Orascom gets UN exemption to operate North Korean cellular network
Egypt’s Orascom Investment Holding has received an exemption from the United Nations to continue operating Koryolink, its North Korean cellular network, it said Monday. The ability of Orascom to continue as a partner in the network has been in doubt since U.N. Security Council sanctions last year banned foreign companies from establishing or running commercial…
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ZTE hit for telecom exports to North Korea but US focus is on Iran
ZTE Corp., one of China’s largest telecom equipment manufacturers, has agreed to a record high settlement with the U.S. government over exports of controlled technology to Iran and North Korea. The deal, announced on Tuesday, totals some $1.2 billion and is the result of a coordinated prosecution by the Departments of Commerce, Justice and Treasury.…
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Orascom closes its bank in Pyongyang blaming sanctions
Egypt’s Orascom Telecom has shut down Orabank, a bank it started in North Korea at the same time it launched the Koryolink mobile phone service. The closure was blamed on a new wave of international sanctions hit North Korea, including those from the United States, “becoming increasingly complex and having delved in the territory of financial sanctions.”…
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Orascom has ‘lost control’ of Koryolink
Orascom Telecom and Media Technology (OTMT) says it has effectively lost control of Cheo Technology, the North Korean joint venture cellular operator that uses the Koryolink brand-name and has around 3 million subscribers. The dramatic statement was contained in the company’s latest financial report, which also said that OTMT would no longer be treated as a…
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Orascom’s no closer to getting its cash from North Korea
Egypt’s Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT) has reported no significant progress in talks with the North Korean government over two big issues it faces in the country. In its second quarter financial results, Orascom says it’s still trying to figure out how to get its cash out of the country and a possible merger of…
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New cellular carrier is run by local ISP, says source
The new cellular carrier run by the North Korean government to compete with Koryolink is being run by a local Internet service provider, according to a source in Pyongyang. The ISP, called Byol (?) or Star, is targeting the wireless service at North Koreans. Star currently offers wired Internet connections to foreigners in Pyongyang at a…
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Hana electronics venture profiled
Hana Electronics, one of North Korea’s best-known and only electronics companies, is profiled in the latest edition of “Foreign Trade” magazine. The company was established in May 2003 as a joint venture between the U.K.’s Phoenix Commercial Ventures and the trading department of North Korea’s Ministry of Culture. It’s been making, or at least assembling, DVD…
