-
Inside North Korea’s cell phone use
North Koreans used cell phone messaging to independently organize a soccer group, surprising authorities, according to a new report on cell phone usage in the country. The soccer club was apparently organized by a group at Kim Chaek University of Technology in Pyongyang, and could be one of the reasons that pushed authorities to launch a…
-
DPRK military could turn to cyber-warfare for lower costs
North Korea’s military could turn to cyber-based attacks and weapons as a more cost-effective alternative to conventional weapons, the U.S. Department of Defense says in a new report. But the annual report to Congress on “Military and Security Developments Involving the DPRK” is also a lot more cautious in blaming North Korea for a series of…
-
Red Star 3.0 desktop images posted
If you want to give your computer desktop a touch of North Korea’s Red Star Linux without installing the operating system, now you can. Will Scott, the computer scientist who brought back a copy of the new operating system last year, has posted the desktop background images from Red Star 3.0 to a Google+ album.…
-
Lost phone found in Pyongyang?
A smartphone that was lost in South Korea has apparently surfaced in Pyongyang. A South Korean Internet used posted a screenshot from Google’s Android Device Manager that shows the phone on Sungri Street (????) in Pyongyang. The page says the location accuracy is 75 meters. Curtis Melvin, author of North Korea Economy Watch and authority…
-
A new look at North Korea
Most people who read this blog will be familiar with the image of the two Koreas at nighttime by a NASA satellite On January 30, 2014, an astronaut on the International Space Station used a Nikon D3S camera to capture a new image of the Korean peninsula at 10:16 pm — one that’s even more…
-
Sochi Olympics coverage on KCTV
Every time the Olympics or World Cup come around, there’s the question of whether viewers in the DPRK will be able to see the major sporting events. Korean Central Television (조선중앙텔레비죤) often manages to air portions of the events, but only with technical assistance from other organizations. And so this year, for the Winter Olympics…
-
DPRK again one from bottom on press freedom ranking
North Korea has held on to its position as the second-worst country in the world for press freedoms, according to the latest annual survey by Reporters Without Borders. The report, published on Wednesday, put North Korea at position 179. During 2013, the country was singled out for particular criticism by the group for media coverage of…
-
Internet coming to Kaesong Industrial Zone
Officials from North and South Korea have come to an agreement that should allow limited Internet access inside the Kaesong Industrial Zone, the jointly-run manufacturing complex just north of the inter-Korean border. The agreement was reached during talks on Friday, according to reports quoting South Korea’s Unification Ministry. South Korean managers who work at the factories…
-
North Korea YouTube List updated
It’s been almost a year since I published the second edition of The North Korea YouTube List, a survey of YouTube channels that carry material related to North Korea. The latest version includes several new channels and changes throughout. Perhaps the biggest change is that the DPRK Music Channel, previously ranked as the most popular…
-
TV Review: Educating North Korea
The BBC’s Panorama news documentary series visited The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology recently for a revealing look behind the unique school. The program, broadcast on BBC One on February 3, begins summarizing the Kim’s control over the country and its people and reminds us that Kim Jong Un recently had his uncle, Jang Song…
