DONATE
  • ZTE hit for telecom exports to North Korea but US focus is on Iran

    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.…

    ,
  • A Closer Look at North Korea’s Ullim Tablet

    A Closer Look at North Korea’s Ullim Tablet

    Computer security researchers analyzing a North Korean tablet computer have discovered a level of surveillance and control not previously seen inside electronics from the DPRK.

    ,
  • DPRK propaganda station drops AM broadcasts

    DPRK propaganda station drops AM broadcasts

    Echo of Unification (통일의메아리방송), a North Korean radio station that broadcasts propaganda towards South Korea, dropped all mediumwave (AM band) broadcasting on December 21. The move seemingly confirms the futility of the broadcasts, which consumed large amounts of electricity but were blocked by powerful South Korean government jamming transmitters, but the station isn’t giving up. In…

    ,
  • Orascom closes its bank in Pyongyang blaming sanctions

    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.”…

    , ,
  • North Korean TV YouTube channel terminated

    North Korean TV YouTube channel terminated

    YouTube has shut down one of the most popular Internet sources for clips from North Korean TV. The KoreanCentralTV1 channel was shuttered on Monday and visitors are now greeted with a message that reads “This account has been terminated for violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines.” The channel uploaded multiple videos each day, including clips from the evening…

    , , ,
  • BBC’s North Korean service coming in 2017

    BBC’s North Korean service coming in 2017

    The BBC World Service has confirmed plans to launch a Korean-language radio service in 2017. The new service comes after years of pressure and a increased money from the U.K. government to the broadcaster. Korean is one of 11 new language services that will be launched next year, the BBC said on Wednesday. Radio news bulletins will…

    ,
  • Voice of Korea schedule through spring 2017

    Voice of Korea schedule through spring 2017

    Voice of Korea (조선의소리), North Korea’s international shortwave broadcasting station, adjusted its transmission schedule on October 31 for the winter 2016 and spring 2017 seasons. The broadcasts follow the same basic line-up each day. :00 Opening signal, station identification: “This is Voice of Korea” :01 National Anthem :03 Song of General Kim Il Sung :06 Song…

    , ,
  • North Korea’s DNS files reveal few Internet websites

    North Korea’s DNS files reveal few Internet websites

    The world of the Internet in North Korea has always been opaque. The country maintains a handful of websites on the global Internet but doesn’t do a very good job of promoting them, leaving new ones to be discovered by chance. But on Tuesday, a list of all current North Korean domain names was laid open to…

    ,
  • Mystery North Korean radio broadcast highlights coded communications

    Mystery North Korean radio broadcast highlights coded communications

    A little after midnight, early on the morning of July 15, as most of the Korean peninsula slept, were North Korean spies up late listening to the radio? This was the big question after a strange sequence of numbers was read out on a North Korean radio station. It sounded a lot like the coded…

    , , , ,
  • Kim Jong Un added to US sanctions list for the first time

    Kim Jong Un added to US sanctions list for the first time

    It probably comes as a surprise to many that Kim Jong Un was never on the U.S. sanctions list for North Korea. That changed on Wednesday when the State Department him by name along with a handful of other government departments and individuals. The inclusion is more symbolic than anything else. It wasn’t as if Kim…