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Report: Cell phone rentals to visitors suspended
North Korea has suspended a cell-phone rental service for visiting foreigners, according to Japan’s Kyodo News. The suspension began in January and could, speculates Kyodo, “reflect concern in the North over the flow of information about democracy demonstrations sweeping the Middle East.” Telecommunications systems, including cell phones and the Internet, have proved instrumental in the…
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Rodong Sinmun launches website
Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Worker’s Party of Korea and one of the most important propaganda tools of the DPRK government, has launched a website. The site was first reported on Thursday although appears to have been officially launched a day earlier on Feb. 16, which was Kim Jong…
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Website appears for LRIT maritime system
North Korea appears to have taken the first steps towards putting a data center online for the maritime Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) system. The LRIT system was created by the International Maritime Organization in May 2006 and requires passenger and cargo ships automatically report their identity and location at least four times a…
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Homefront: Battling North Korean invasion
The year is 2027 and the Greater Korean Federation, a North Korea-controlled bloc of Asian nations, has been occupying San Francisco for two years. This is the fictional — and many would say unlikely — setting for Homefront, a video game that hits U.S. shelves on March 15. The game pits the player, a member…
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Pyongyang Earth Station
In Pyongyang’s eastern suburb of Sadong lies one of North Korea’s gateways with the world. The satellite earth station, pictured below, links the country with international communications satellites. Construction of the earth station began in early 1984, a few months before North Korea joined the Soviet-led Intersputnik group. Back then, Intersputnik served as the satellite…
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3G users to hit 1 million this year, says report
North Korea is expecting the number of 3G users in the country will reach 1 million this year, according to a Chinese television report. The prediction was made by a staffer of Chesin Commercial Corp., the government-linked company that runs North Korea’s international e-mail service, in an interview with Chinese Central Television (CCTV). “It is…
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CNC big in Kim Jong Il’s January visits
Alongside a call to reduced tensions with its southern neighbor, North Korea’s New Year joint editorial called for a significant effort to modernize and build up its light-industry sector this year. Central to this task will be the adoption of computer-controlled machinery, so-called CNC (computer numeric control) equipment. So it comes as no surprise that…
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Kim Jong Il calls for computer network expansion
Kim Jong Il has called for the expansion of a domestic computer network, according to domestic media reports. His comments were made earlier this month, when he visited the recently-built North Hwanghae Provincial People?s Study House, said KCNA and state radio. The study house was opened in September 2010 and covers 4,500 square meters, according…
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IP Phone system developed
Kim Il Sung University’s Information Center has developed an IP phone system, according to a brief KCNA report on Thursday. IP phone systems send calls as digital data over IP (Internet protocol) based networks. While widespread access to the Internet is not available in North Korea, the same IP technology is used on Kwangmyong, the…
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Orascom CEO meets Kim Jong Il
The CEO of Egypt’s Orascom Telecom was given a dinner in his honor hosted by Kim Jong Il on Sunday night, KCNA reported on Monday. (Scroll down for updates) Naguib Sawiris arrived in the North Korean capital on Friday and his meeting with the North Korean leader was the first reported details of his activities.…
