-
Sony pulls ‘The Interview’
So much for standing up to terrorists. Bowing to the demands of hackers and handing them a major victory, Sony said Wednesday that it is pulling “The Interview” from movie theaters. The movie, which was due to open on December 25, follows two American showbiz reporters offered the chance to interview Kim Jong Un. Before they…
-
US declassifies Pueblo incident narrative
The U.S. Air Force has declassified part of a history of the Pueblo incident, the 1968 capture of the electronics and signals intelligence ship U.S.S. Pueblo by North Korean forces. The document was prepared by the U.S. Air Force Security Service in April 1968 and provides a detailed narrative of the incident, with timings down…
-
Kim Il Sung University opens website
Kim Il Sung University, North Korea’s most prestigious seat of higher learning, has become the first university in the country to launch a website on the global Internet. The site is available in Korean and English and is being served from a computer in Pyongyang. It joins a handful of other websites that are run…
-
Pyongyang breaks silence on Sony hack
Two weeks after computers at Sony Pictures were taken offline by a major hack and just over a week since North Korea was mentioned as a suspect, the country’s state media has commented for the first time and denied any involvement in the attack. In a report on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency carried…
-
Defector media outlets align, want AM radio outlet
Four of South Korea’s leading defector-run media outlets have begun jointly lobbying the government on issues of mutual interest and their first target appears to be a mediumwave (AM) radio frequency. Radio Free Chosun, Open Radio for North Korea, Daily NK and OTV have come together under the “Unification Media Group,” Daily NK reported. The four have a…
-
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…
-
Did North Korea hack Sony? Probably Not
It’s a compelling story. A month away from the release of Seth Rogen’s new movie “The Interview,” in which he plays a celebrity reporter sent to North Korea to interview Kim Jong Un and kill him, North Korea is so annoyed at the film that it has hacked into Sony Pictures and threatened to release corporate secrets. It’s also most…
-
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…
-
PUST turns out first undergraduates
The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology turned out its first round of undergraduates last week, marking a significant achievement for North Korea’s first privately-funded university. The 100 students received their Bachelors degrees in a ceremony in Pyongyang that was attended by the co-presidents of the university and members of the local diplomatic community. After graduation,…
-
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…
