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Bill would expand U.S. support for foreign media aimed at DPRK
A bill that would strengthen and modernize U.S. support of international media aimed at North Korea was introduced into the U.S. Congress on Wednesday. House Resolution 4051 (H.R.4051) is being proposed as an amendment to the North Korea Human Rights Act of 2004 and expands that bill’s support of shortwave radio broadcasts to include newer means of information dissemination…
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KCNA Japan site isn’t down, it’s geo-blocked
Sometime in early July, the long-time Japan-based site carrying Korean Central News Agency stories became inaccessible. That was bad news because it carried an archive of KCNA stories going back 18 years and each story had a unique URL, which made it perfect to hyperlinking back to previous articles (There are many KCNA links on North…
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KCNA parody Twitter account claims another victim
It’s happened again … and it won’t be the last time. The parody DPRK News Service Twitter account has fooled someone and made it onto national television in the U.S. The subject in question was a couple of computer problems that hit United Airlines and the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning. The United…
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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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A peek inside North Korea’s intranet
Not much is known about North Korea’s intranet — the Internet-like system that links up libraries, universities and other organizations throughout the country but goes no further than the country’s borders. Few foreigners get a chance to access it and delve into the websites and services it offers, but thanks to sharp-eyed Aram Pan and his DPRK360…
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Rodong Sinmun website gets a facelift
The design of the website of North Korea’s main daily newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, was refreshed on Monday. The new site has fewer pictures on the front page and leads with a list of stories. And being North Korean, features detailing the work of Kim Jong Un receive top billing.The site’s most useful feature, the…
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Instagram block adds speed bump to DPRK’s Internet access
It was always a bit of a paradox: in the country with some of the strictest censorship on the planet, Internet access for the lucky ones that had even less restrictions than neighboring China. In North Korea, the Internet divide between the elite and the rest of the country couldn’t have been wider: you either had everything or you…
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3G Internet service said to resume in Pyongyang
Foreigners in Pyongyang can once again access the Internet from their smartphones, according to a report. Service was suspended last Friday because of an Internet connection problem with no estimated time of restoration, according to a message sent to subscribers by carrier Koryolink. The outage and message were reported by Reuters. During the outage, websites hosted…
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Maritime agency is North Korea’s newest website
North Korea’s Maritime Administration is the latest public institution to put a website on the global Internet. It’s the first new Internet website from North Korea this year and joins a small handful of sites originating from servers in Pyongyang. The site has Korean and English language versions and perhaps most interestingly, a searchable database of…
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Twitter’s Periscope live streaming reaches Pyongyang
It’s probably the first use of Periscope, Twitter’s new video live streaming tool, from Pyongyang. Coleen Baik, a designer who previously worked at Twitter, is in North Korea at the moment as part of the Women Cross DMZ movement. The group are in the headlines for their plan to cross from North Korea to South…
