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DPRK joins maritime satellite organization
North Korea recently joined an international organization that overseas safety and security satellite communications services for mariners. The country became the 98th nation to join the International Maritime Satellite Organization (IMSO) when it acceded on October 15, according to a statement from the organization. The IMSO is charged with overseeing public safety and security services…
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South Korean Defense Ministry’s radio station off air
MND Radio, a shortwave radio station run by South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense, appears to have left the air. The station was last heard broadcasting on October 31st. Since then, it hasn’t been detected by radio monitors in East Asia or further afield. MND Radio first appeared in late 2011 and broadcast a handful…
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Samjiyon appears again on Ebay, price drops to $425
Enthusiasm appears to be waning for North Korea’s Samjiyon Android tablet. Two of the tablets have appeared again on Ebay and were offered by the same vendor who sold one two weeks ago. This time, it attracted fewer bids and sold for far less than the 6 winning bid of the first Samjiyon to appear…
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Is this a South Korean propaganda radio station?
Driving up South Korea’s “freedom highway” north of Seoul, just after the turn off for the National Defense University, observant travelers will notice a collection of transmitter masts off to the right of the highway. At first glance, the site looks like it might belong to a major broadcaster like KBS, but the truth appears to…
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KCNA web traffic uncovered
A Washington, D.C.-based journalist and blogger has managed to obtain details on web traffic to the Korean Central News Agency’s website thanks to poor security on a previous version of the site. Writing on his blog, Dino Beslagic said he was able to access the site traffic data through a hidden interface page on the…
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Samjiyon tablet sells for $546 in Ebay auction
A North Korean Samjiyon tablet computer sold for the impressive price of $546 on Ebay. The tablet first appeared on the site on November 7 with an opening bid of $4.15 — a likely reference to the April 15 birthday of Kim Il Sung — and attracted 53 bids over 10 days. The Samjiyon, which…
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Construction begins on Kaesong tech zone
North Korea began construction this week on a new industrial zone in Kaesong that it hopes will attract high-tech companies. The ground-breaking ceremony for the Kaesong Hi-Tech Industrial Park took place on Monday, less than a month after three foreign companies signed a deal with the government to work on design and construction of the…
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Did North Korea pirate Angry Birds?
One of the surprises in North Korea’s recently-launched Samjiyon (???) tablet was the inclusion of Angry Birds, the globally-popular game that involves shooting animated birds to destroy structures and animated pigs. In July, when I was reviewing the Samjiyon, I contacted game-maker Rovio to ask about its inclusion in the device. Despite several attempts to get comment,…
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Samjiyon tablet appears on Ebay
A model of North Korea’s Samjiyon tablet is up for sale on Ebay. It appeared on the morning on Thursday, November 7, and appears to have been listed by a Canadian account with a shipping location of Yanji in China. Yanji sits just across the border from North Korea. Its appearance followed a second-round of…
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Winter 2013/2014 radio broadcasts to North Korea
The various public and private radio stations that aim broadcasts at North Korea have just refreshed their broadcast schedules for the winter season. In addition to the publicly-funded outlets, there are several private stations. Their editorial balance at the stations differ although none are pro-regime stations. Some are jammed by North Korea making reception difficult —…
