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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Kim Jong Il calls for computer network expansion
Kim Jong Il has called for the expansion of a domestic computer network, according to domestic media reports. His comments were made earlier this month, when he visited the recently-built North Hwanghae Provincial People?s Study House, said KCNA and state radio. The study house was opened in September 2010 and covers 4,500 square meters, according…
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IP Phone system developed
Kim Il Sung University’s Information Center has developed an IP phone system, according to a brief KCNA report on Thursday. IP phone systems send calls as digital data over IP (Internet protocol) based networks. While widespread access to the Internet is not available in North Korea, the same IP technology is used on Kwangmyong, the…
