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Internet restrictions in North Korea slowly easing
Turkmenistan News.Net
Saturday 28th November, 2009
Internet access in North Korea has long been severely restricted, at least on an official basis.
There are signs however that the government-imposed freeze is starting to thaw.
Government departments and leading officials have had access for some years and use the Internet for research purposes.
The country’s leader Kim Jong-Il is an avid Internet user and one one occasion when a visiting diplomat suggested he telephone when neded, asked for the diplomat's email address.
A major breakthrough came in December last year when Internet access was made publicly available through cell phones, although on a restricted basis.
International hotels have had Internet access for some years while there are Internet cafes in the capital Pyongyang and other cities open for public use. They charge the equivalent of 6 euros an hour. To get on the network, the cafe owners need to obtain permission from the official Korean Computer Center (KCC) which controls all online information and is the service provider.
North Korea Times, which is established in Sydney, Australia, is one of a small number of English-speaking news portals for the country, however access to it locally is limited due to the restrictions. "It is unlikely we have any meaningful readership in the country," a spokesman told us. "Our main focus is to provide news on North Korea for Internet users at large, not necessarily those in the country."
According to Reporters without Borders, the North Korean Internet, which operates like an Intranet, has been available since 2000 and can provide email, a censored search engine, a browser and a few news sites that have been carefully selected by the government.
"The only available Web pages have been approved by the authorities and come from the data banks of the Democratic People’s Republic’s three biggest libraries (The Grand People’sStudy House and the Kim Il sung and Kim Chaek universities)," a report by the association said. "The information available is usually connected with science and is only accessible to a few handpicked people like academics and bureaucrats."
North Koreans however have not been left completely in the dark. A black market in cell phones from China has been thriving int the country. Buyers picking up the phones are regularly going online through ISPs in China.  Email this story to a friend
Comments on this story
kawahchan
11-28-09, 11:57 AM |
Internet freeze in North Korea begins to thaw
(R) 2012 DAN QUAYLE Presidential Foreign Policy & Affairs: It’s about time to thaw ALL e-Communication freezed to the regular Korean people to ease their daily life. A new beginning of a modernized Kim Jong-un dynasty is coming soon !!!
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Anonymous
11-28-09, 01:02 PM |
Cant wait..
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Anonymous
11-28-09, 04:21 PM |
One can only hope that these lessened controls will eventually lead to a more open North Korea, and perhaps even one day a unified Korea.
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thirstyformoore
12-04-09, 01:53 AM |
Blocked Websites
I think it really is very unfortunate for everyone using the internet for resourceful information. It gets pretty annoying here in China; like North Korea they the government tends to block social networking websites. Earlier this year they’ve blocked all sorts of websites and they’re blocking all kinds of methods to access these sites making it very difficult for foreigners like me to connect with family and friends back home through these social networking sites. I have tried using proxy websites but they’ve blocked that as well now so I’m now using Freedur which is the only reliable software I’ve used so far. It really lets me access these blocked sites.
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simon.master444
12-12-09, 01:12 PM |
Freedur fraud
Fwi, the owner of Freedur Chris Mathews and his operations are very shady. There is so many bad comments floating around the internet about Chris Mathews, Freedur, ShoeMash and OpenTerrace LTD. Supposedly, Chris Mathews has stolen Freedur from its real owner - StackFile (owner - Paul Hay).
Freedur server is full of stolen files, just as example - https://freedur.net/images/placeholder/stackfile_logo.jpg
You can read the law suit against Freedur/Chris Mathews here http://www.skydur.com/law-suit-against-chris-mathews.php.
If I were you I would stay away from Freedur, ShoeMask and Open Terrace LTD.
Simon
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Jack
01-07-10, 04:51 PM |
North Korean internet.... SUCK! SUCK! SUCK!
Why in the hell do people need to put so much trouble in order get normal internet access. this is stupid
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