Category: Culture

  • A closer look at North Korea’s Manbang IPTV box

    A closer look at North Korea’s Manbang IPTV box

    It has been two and a half years since North Korean TV showcased a new IP streaming television service called “Manbang” (만방). Since then, it occasionally appears in state media but it’s still largely a mystery. The Manbang service is quite impressive in that it mirrors the comprehensive live and on-demand services offered by many…

  • UK Foreign Office warns on taking digital media to North Korea

    UK Foreign Office warns on taking digital media to North Korea

    Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office is warning visitors to North Korea that they need to “carefully consider” any recorded video that they attempt to take into the country. The warning came in an update to the FCO’s travel advice for North Korea that was made on Tuesday. “Consider carefully any films or television programmes that…

  • Visiting Tokyo’s Korean Book Center

    Visiting Tokyo’s Korean Book Center

    There aren’t many places in the world outside of North Korea that you can just walk in and peruse DPRK propaganda, but Tokyo’s Korea Book Center is one place that you can. It was a place I never managed to get to when I lived in Tokyo, so I decided to visit last week when…

  • DPRK are new baddies in Hollywood movie remake

    Imagine, you’re midway through shooting a movie in which China invades the U.S. and all that stands in its way of national domination is a small group of teens. You might think that sentence sums up your biggest problem, but you’re wrong. Portions of the script and photos from the set have been leaked in…

  • North Koreans gaining more access to foreign media, says report

    Cracks in the information wall that has long surrounded North Korea are increasingly allowing citizens in the country more exposure to foreign media, according to a report published on Thursday. The report, produced by Intermedia for the U.S. Department of State, was based on surveys of several hundred defectors, refugees and travelers, and found “substantial…

  • ‘I’ is for the Internet he bans

    ‘I’ is for the Internet he bans

    Kim Jong Il made a surprise appearance on the season premiere edition of Fox TV’s “The Simpsons” on Sunday night. And so did “the Internet he banned.” The episode, which marked the beginning of the 23rd season of the hit animated show, features a former CIA agent called Wayne. Played by Kiefer Sutherland, Wayne becomes…