-
·
KCNA imposter website disappears
A website that on first glance closely resembled that of the state-run Korean Central News Agency, but in fact pointed to news articles critical of the country appears to be been taken offline. The English-language site was available at www.kcna.co and was modeled on the KCNA website run from Pyongyang at www.kcna.kp. On Thursday lunchtime (Korean time) the site disappeared…
-
·
New Arirang smartphone caught on camera
North Korea’s Arirang smartphone has been upgraded. Recent photos of one of the phones show a new model that features an updated version of Google’s Android operating system. The phone was spotted by Aram Pan, a Singapore-based photographer who has made several trips to North Korea. He first posted them on his DPRK 360 Facebook…
-
·
Kwangmyong has been upgraded, says report
Kwangmyong, North Korea’s online information service, has been upgraded. The network serves scientific and technological information and has been expanded with a new search function that includes a translation function, according to a recent article on Naenara, the website of Pyongyang’s Korea Computer Center.
-
·
Sawiris takes charge of Koryolink parent
Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris has taken over as CEO of the parent company of Cheo Technology, which runs North Korea’s Koryolink 3G cellular telephone network. Sawiris assumed the top job at Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT) after the former CEO, Ahmed Abou Doma, stepped down for personal reasons. He had been CEO for less than a…
-
·
Report: Twitter, Facebook blocked in North Korea
North Korea has begun blocking access to Twitter and Facebook on domestic Internet connections offered to foreigners, according to a report last week. If correct, the move is apparently the first active blocking of Internet access by the North Korean government and comes at a time when it appears to be slowly tightening the screws on…
-
·
North Korean malware hit thousands of phones, says Seoul
Malicious software disguised as a computer game could have infected around 20,000 smartphones in South Korea, according to South Korean media reports quoting the country’s spy agency. The games were offered through South Korean sites between May 19 and September 16 this year, the National Intelligence Service said in a report to parliament. The apps have since been removed…
-
·
North Korea bans WiFi at embassies
North Korea has banned the use of satellite Internet connections and WiFi networks by foreign embassies and international organizations unless they get government approval. The switch, which came in mid August, gives credibility to an earlier report that unencrypted wireless networks at embassies were being used by North Korean citizens to gain uncensored access to…
-
·
Koryolink subscriptions hit 2.4 million
Subscriptions to Koryolink, North Korea’s only 3G mobile phone network, have just passed the 2.4 million mark, according to the latest figures from the operator. The figure represents a significant slowdown in growth in the last year over the previous year and points to the first big spurt in subscriptions being over. The carrier might have…
-
·
South Korea’s Daum launches North Korean mapping service
Daum has launched a North Korean mapping service, becoming the first South Korean portal to offer maps of the country’s northern neighbor. The maps are based on data from South Korea’s National Geographic Information Institute (NGII) and, according to local media, provide greater coverage of North Korea than Google Maps. You can check the maps out for…
-
·
South Korea’s Supreme Court confirms acquittal of Pyongyang retweeter
South Korea’s top court has upheld the acquittal of a free-speech activist for retweeting North Korean tweets, according to several local media reports. Park Jung-geun, a Seoul-based photographer, was arrested under the country’s anti-communist National Security Law for a series of tweets posted in late 2010 and early 2011. They included retweets from Uriminzokkiri, a China-based website with…
