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Koryolink sees another record quarter
Koryolink, North Korea’s only 3G network operator, added a record number of subscribers in the second quarter of 2011, but the company will have to push harder if it’s to reach a million users by the end of the year. The company ended the quarter with 666,517 subscribers, according to Orascom Telecom. Egypt’s Orascom holds…
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VOK on US hacking
The Voice of Korea, North Korea’s international radio broadcaster, recently aired a commentary that took aim at several hacking incidents in the U.S., but the true aim of the piece appears to be the U.S. Department of Defense’s recently published Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace. The U.S. document, a declassified version of which is available…
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Koryo Tours hits out at South Korean web block
Koryo Tours, the Beijing-based travel agent that specializes in tours of North Korea, says South Korea has “over reacted” in blocking its website since the beginning of this year. The websites koryotours.com and koryogroup.com have been unavailable from South Korean Internet connections since January 26 this year, apparently a casualty of South Korea’s campaign to…
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Kim Jong Il visits ‘LCD TV factory’
North Korean state media has reported on a visit by Kim Jong Il to the “May 11 Factory,” which it described as “a modern scientific research and production center which researches and develops varieties of electronic goods including liquid crystal display TV sets.” The KCNA report mentioned the LCD televisions several times and was accompanied…
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Coding the Kims
If you’ve spent time browsing some of North Korea’s official websites and looked closely enough, you might have spotted a slight change in the typeface every time Kim Jong Il or Kim Il Sung is mentioned. Your eyes are not deceiving you. Official North Korean websites contain a custom style rule written into the page…
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AP kills KCNA photo, says it was altered
Hot on the heels of agreements between Korean Central News Agency and both The Associated Press and Reuters to more widely distribute KCNA video, The AP has withdrawn a KCNA photo saying it’s not what it appears to be. The photo, below, was distributed to AP members and customers on July 16 and purports to…
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KCNA video in demand by foreign agencies
Two recent deals with western news agencies stand to put Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) video in front of millions of viewers. The deals, with The Associated Press and Reuters, give each agency the ability to redistribute KCNA footage to TV stations around the world as part of their video news service. Such deals are…
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AP, Reuters battle for Pyongyang bragging rights
Pyongyang is suddenly the hottest place to have a newsroom. In the space of two weeks, both The Associated Press and Reuters have announced plans to source more content from inside the country. The AP has signed a memorandum of understanding (which typically precedes an official deal) on the establishment of a text and photo…
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Internet, mobile phones eyed for Mt. Kumgang
North Korea plans to allow Internet access and the use of mobile phones by visitors to the Mount Kumgang tourism zone. Visitors are typically relieved of their mobile phones when entering North Korea and public Internet access is not available inside the country. But the country is establishing a special tourism zone around Mount Kumgang,…
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North Korea behind March web attacks, says McAfee
North Korea or parties closely tied to the country were almost certainly behind the March cyber attacks that took down several South Korean websites, according to a report from computer security company McAfee. The report contains a detailed analysis of the attacks and how they were carried out. Working with the governments of both South…
