Martyn Williams
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Posts by Martyn Williams
Sony puts ‘The Interview’ online
Dec 25th
What a difference a week makes. The Christmas Day release of “The Interview” is back on and Sony has already begun offering the movie online.
The movie, a comedy in which two TV reporters embark on a secret mission to kill Kim Jong Un, appeared on YouTube and Google Play on December 23 at 1pm ET. It costs $5.99 to rent for 48 hours and $15 to own.
Sony’s ‘The Interview’ became available on Google Play from 1800 UTC on December 24, 2014.
Google said that it was first approached by Sony on December 17, on the same day that is announced it would More >
North Korea responds to hack allegations
Dec 21st
North Korea has reacted angrily to U.S. assertions that it was behind a devastating cyber attack on Sony Pictures.
[UPDATE: The TV announcement is below the English statement]
The official state-run news agency carried a statement from the country’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday that promised “serious consequences” if a joint investigation with the DPRK doesn’t tale place.
It’s not the first time this year the country has demanded a joint investigation into international allegations against it. In May, the country wanted such after it was accused of responsibility for three drones found crashed in South Korea near the shared border with North Korea. The country More >
Kim Il Sung University opens website
Dec 13th
Kim Il Sung University, North Korea’s most prestigious seat of higher learning, has become the first university in the country to launch a website on the global Internet.
The site is available in Korean and English and is being served from a computer in Pyongyang. It joins a handful of other websites that are run by the North Korean government and accessible from outside of the country.
The website of Kim Il Sung University (Photo: North Korea Tech)
The site is available at http://www.ryongnamsan.edu.kp
There’s much of what you would expect on a university website: a history, areas of study, an outline of some of More >
Defector media outlets align, want AM radio outlet
Dec 6th
Four of South Korea’s leading defector-run media outlets have begun jointly lobbying the government on issues of mutual interest and their first target appears to be a mediumwave (AM) radio frequency.
Radio Free Chosun, Open Radio for North Korea, Daily NK and OTV have come together under the “Unification Media Group,” Daily NK reported.
The four have a joint goal of reaching a million North Korean adults within the next five years. Under current conditions, that’s all but impossible via TV or the Internet but could be done by radio.
Radio Free Chosun and Open Radio for North Korea have attempted to reach North Koreans before using More >
UK Foreign Office warns on taking digital media to North Korea
Dec 3rd
Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office is warning visitors to North Korea that they need to “carefully consider” any recorded video that they attempt to take into the country.
The warning came in an update to the FCO’s travel advice for North Korea that was made on Tuesday.
“Consider carefully any films or television programmes that you bring into the country, either on DVD or on data storage devices. Those deemed to have an anti-DPRK government message may be confiscated and you may face detention as a result.”
The travel advice is typically updated in response to incidents that have occurred, so it’s likely that More >
Did North Korea hack Sony? Probably Not
Dec 2nd
It’s a compelling story.
A month away from the release of Seth Rogen’s new movie “The Interview,” in which he plays a celebrity reporter sent to North Korea to interview Kim Jong Un and kill him, North Korea is so annoyed at the film that it has hacked into Sony Pictures and threatened to release corporate secrets.
It’s also most likely not true.
The story appears to have begun with Re/code, a technology news website, which reported on Friday “Sony Pictures Investigates North Korea Link In Hack Attack.”
“Sony Pictures Entertainment is exploring the possibility that hackers working on behalf of North Korea, perhaps operating out of China, may be More >
KCNA imposter website disappears
Nov 27th
A website that on first glance closely resembled that of the state-run Korean Central News Agency, but in fact pointed to news articles critical of the country appears to be been taken offline.
The English-language site was available at www.kcna.co and was modeled on the KCNA website run from Pyongyang at www.kcna.kp.
On Thursday lunchtime (Korean time) the site disappeared to be replaced with an “account suspended” notice.
The message greeting visitors on Thursday morning to a page styled after KCNA (Photo: North Korea Tech)
The site had carried the same logo, same selection of languages and same categories of news as the official home page, although on the fake More >
PUST turns out first undergraduates
Nov 26th
The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology turned out its first round of undergraduates last week, marking a significant achievement for North Korea’s first privately-funded university.
The 100 students received their Bachelors degrees in a ceremony in Pyongyang that was attended by the co-presidents of the university and members of the local diplomatic community.
After graduation, some of the students will stay on at PUST to pursue graduate degrees while some others will leave for other state universities in North Korea. PUST said it also actively sends students overseas to universities in Europe and Asia to pursue short- and long-term study.
Students attend a graduation More >
Reports: South Korean arrested on spying charges
Nov 18th
A former officer in South Korea’s military reserve has been arrested on charges of passing documents to a North Korea agent, according to South Korean media reports.
The individual, who was only identified as a 37-year old with the family name of “Jeon,” was arrested under the National Security Law for allegedly passing information to North Korea on five occasions between November 2011 and January 2013, said the Joong Ang Ilbo.
Jeon first made contact with an agent working for North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau in late 2011 when he was running an business that collected cyber money from online games, said The Korea Herald.
The Reconnaissance General More >
Kwangmyong has been upgraded, says report
Nov 12th
Kwangmyong information service (Photo: Naenara)
Kwangmyong, North Korea’s online information service, has been upgraded.
The network serves scientific and technological information and has been expanded with a new search function that includes a translation function, according to a recent article on Naenara, the website of Pyongyang’s Korea Computer Center.
The article doesn’t go into great date on what exactly is new, but reports:
“Pak Sun Hyok and other programmers of the Information Technology Department set a goal of developing a function capable of referring to databases in different languages at one click with one Korean question through the automatic question-and-translate function and the immediate translating function More >
