Martyn Williams
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Homepage: http://www.northkoreatech.org
Posts by Martyn Williams
North Korea shows off another tablet PC
Jul 26th
North Korea has a new tablet computer and it’s a hit with students, according to a report from the state-run KCNA news agency on Wednesday.
The new gadget is the latest in a string of tablet PCs reported by KCNA as being developed, manufactured and available in the DPRK, although the device is almost certainly imported from overseas.
Pictures accompanying the report don’t show any manufacturing, just workers in overalls checking devices — a style that’s been seen several times in the past couple of years, including once in 2011 when North Korean TV news featured a laptop TV factory that apparently produced several models More >
Pyongyang to get Olympic TV coverage
Jul 25th
The Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union has agreed to supply North Korea with live TV coverage of the 2012 Olympic games.
The agreement was reached during a meeting in Pyongyang between Kim In-Kyu, president of the ABU, and representatives of Korea Central Television (KCTV).
Kim went to Pyongyang specifically to work out a relay for Olympic TV coverage after South Korea’s Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) acquired rights for the Korean peninsula. No deal between SBS and KCTV was forthcoming.
The ABU is a grouping of TV broadcasters in 60 countries.
The two parties also agreed to “find ways to further the cooperation between ABU and KCTV” More >
ABU set to negotiate Olympic TV deal for North Korea
Jul 24th
The ability of North Koreans to watch their athletes compete at the 2012 Olympics looks set to be decided this week, just in time for the opening of the games.
A official from the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), an organization of major broadcasters in the Asia Pacific, is due to travel to Pyongyang to discuss airing the games in North Korea. ABU President Kim In-kyu, who also serves as chairman of Korea Broadcasting System (KBS), will make the trip on Tuesday, according to VOA.
It’s likely to result in a deal allowing North Korea’s KRT access to and Olympic TV feed.
While most broadcasters More >
US House committee to probe DPRK tech exports
Jul 12th
The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee says it will investigate export of computer systems to North Korea by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The equipment was supplied to help North Korea’s national patent office update its computer system and gain access to international patent data.
WIPO also reportedly sent computer gear to Iran.
“The revelation that a UN agency has been supplying the brutal regimes in Iran and North Korea with sensitive technology is deeply disturbing, and must be thoroughly investigated,” said Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), chairman of the committee, in a statement. ” Providing these thugs with sensitive technology has the potential to enable their More >
US looking into UN tech exports to DPRK
Jul 9th
The U.S. Government is looking into exports of computer equipment to North Korea by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the State Department said Thursday.
The exports were first reported by Fox News in April.
Internal WIPO emails published by Fox News show concerns about the deal were raised in several quarters within the WIPO.
A string of emails began with notice from the UN Development Program office in Beijing to WIPO informing the organization that Bank of America had blocked a US$52,638 payment for the computer equipment based on U.S. sanctions. A conversation between WIPO staff ensued that showed a general lack of More >
North Korea apparently testing digital radio
Jun 8th
North Korea appears to be testing digital radio broadcasting.
Hiroshi Inoue, a radio monitor in Japan, received on Wednesday the country’s international radio service, Voice of Korea, broadcasting on shortwave using DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale). DRM is a digital broadcasting technology developed for use on AM and shortwave services.
He posted a couple of clips of the on YouTube. While reception isn’t perfect, the audio identification of Voice of Korea can clearly be heard.
The broadcasts are taking place on 3,560MHz, a frequency used by the Voice of Korea in the past for conventional analog shortwave broadcasts.
In a blog posting Mr. Inoue says More >
DPRK targets South media, but coordinates are wrong
Jun 5th
North Korea issued one of its most direct threats yet on South Korean media outlets on Monday.
[This post has been updated, see below]
The threats, to stage “a merciless sacred war” and to blow up “dens of monstrous crimes” came after South Korean media coverage of the Korean Children’s Union anniversary events that are currently taking place in Pyongyang.
From May 29 the group set in motion Chosun Ilbo, Choongang Ilbo, “A channel” of Dong-A Ilbo, KBS, CBS, MBC, SBS and other media to launch a campaign defaming the above-said celebrations. It went the lengths of resorting to a new campaign of hurting More >
Voice of Korea mid 2012 full schedule
May 25th
Previously I listed the English-language broadcasting schedule of Voice of Korea, North Korea’s international shortwave broadcasting station.
Here’s the full schedule of all services, listed by time and then by language. The schedule comes courtesy of Arnulf Piontek in Berlin, Germany.
The schedule shows the time in GMT (UTC), the language, the frequencies in kilohertz (kHz) and the target area of the broadcast. (SEAs, Southeast Asia; NECHN, Northeast China; CAm, Central and South America; NAm, North America, NEAs, Northeast Asia; J, Japan; Eu, Europe; FE, Far East; ME, Middle East; NAf, Northern Africa; and SAf, Southern Africa) Korean-language programs consist of either More >
KCC shows tablet PC at Pyongyang trade fair
May 20th
The Korea Computer Center, one of North Korea’s leading centers of computer studies, showed off a tablet PC running electronic library software at the recent Pyongyang International Trade Fair.
The trade fair, which happens in the spring and autumn each year, is a showcase for the latest products from North Korean companies and from international organizations looking to sell into the DPRK. This year it attracted some 270 companies including foreign participation from the Netherlands, Germany, Bulgaria, Switzerland, the UK, Austria, Italy, Finland, Poland, Australia, Malaysia, Mongolia, China and Taiwan, according to state-run KCNA.
The KCC tablet PC was detailed in an interview carried More >
Pyongyang denies GPS jamming
May 19th
North Korea denied on Friday that it played any part in a two and a half week long jamming of Global Positioning System (GPS) signals in the border area between North and South Korea.
The denial was carried in several state media outlets and said allegations that the DPRK was behind the jamming were part of “a new farce and smear campaign.”
The jamming took place between April 28 and May 14 and resulted in several hundred civilian aircraft and ships experiencing disruption to their navigation systems, according to reports. It made GPS signals unavailable or unreliable but didn’t result in any serious accidents. South Korean More >
