Internet
Distance education network reportedly launched
Nov 17th
In mid November the North Korean state media carried stories about the inauguration of a new distance-learning network. The reports expand on a brief bulletin issued in early October about the start of an “online lecture” service.
The network is based at the Grand People’s Study House in Pyongyang and connects to centers of learning throughout the country, including local people’s study houses, libraries, scientific centers and educational institutions, according to the reports.
The distance-learning application works on any operating system, said KCNA. That most likely points to a Web-based application, but it could also mean a more complex set-up based on Java More >
Naenara is back
Oct 28th
North Korea’s Naenara website is back. The site went offline around early September when the dot-kp domain name space went down.
Naenara is run by Pyongyang’s Korea Computer Center and offers news, photos, shopping, tourism information and MP3 files from North Korea.
It’s running inside North Korea’s recently-activated domestic IP address space, but isn’t working perfectly. Some of the links point to dot-kp addresses, which are still not working. It’s worth keeping an eye on.
You can find it at http://175.45.176.14/en/
South Korea now blocking new KCNA site
Oct 21st
South Korea has begun blocking domestic access to the recently launched KCNA website that operates from North Korea’s IP space. Internet users trying to access the site now get redirected to the National Police Agency’s static warning page.
The move isn’t a surprise. The writing was on the wall for the website as soon as it started getting reported in South Korean media.
I checked this afternoon and the government hasn’t blocked the entire IP address range. Right now it looks like it’s just affecting the single KCNA website.
Here’s my story: PC World
North Korean hackers probe South, say reports
Oct 21st
Two South Korean media outlets, KBS and the Chosun Ilbo, are reporting the government says it has traced “hackers” back to a server operating in North Korea.
KBS says:
A government official says North Korea has attempted to hack information on South Korea’s water supply and drainage systems.
The Chosun Ilbo provides a little more detail:
Evidence points to North Korean hackers attempting to gather information about water supply and drainage systems, pathways of toxic materials, and traffic control near the venue of the G20 Summit in Seoul, according to the Cyber Terror Response Center of the National Police Agency.
But both reports failed to More >
Online Lecture Begins
Oct 13th
Pyongyang, October 12 (KCNA) — The Grand People’s Study House in Pyongyang has begun an online-lecture service.
Full Story: KCNA
The new face of KCNA
Oct 9th
North Korea appears to have made its first full connection to the Internet and the first site online? A new home for KCNA.
The site appeared as part of a routine scan I’ve been doing of Internet addresses issued to Star, the Thai-North Korean joint venture that I wrote about in a Computerworld story [North Korea moves quietly onto the Internet] in June 2010.
The network is connected via China Netcom and so far there’s just the KCNA Web site. As you can see from the image, it looks different to the Japan-based site run by Chongryon (Chosen Soren) and has the More >
The Internet unshackled … for now
Oct 9th
[Updated: North Korea opens up Internet for national anniversary, Computerworld]
There are amazing reports coming out of Pyongyang tonight on Twitter! That’s right, tweets from the heart of one of the most insular countries in the world.
Foreign correspondents have been sending out tweets thanks to a press room set up at the Koryo Hotel. They’re in town to cover the 65th anniversary celebrations for the Worker’s Party of Korea. Their admittance to the country is unusual in itself, but a press room with apparently unrestricted Internet is extraordinary.
One of the most active on Twitter has been Melissa Chan of Al Jazeera.
Here are More >
Pyongyang gets social
Sep 5th
Uriminzokkiri.com, the closest thing North Korea has to an official home page, got social in July when it joined Twitter and Facebook.
The move generated lots of publicity and helped drive Internet users to follow its tweets and status-updates, but also drew the attention of the governments in Seoul and Washington.
Uriminzokkiri’s moves into social media began a few weeks earlier with the launch of a YouTube channel, but that was largely unnoticed. A few news organizations picked up on the launch including AFP, which provided a sense of the channel’s content.
One English-language video with a duration of five minutes and 56 More >
North Korea moves quietly to the Internet
Jun 11th
North Korea, one of the world’s few remaining information black holes, has taken the first step toward a fully fledged connection to the Internet.
