Software
Red Star 3.0 Desktop – The install
Dec 30th
The operating system is being offered as a 2.6 gigabyte ISO file, which means it will look like a CD or DVD install disc to most modern operating systems. The operating system can be directly installed from the ISO file and requires about 10 gigabytes of disc space.
I installed mine inside a Virtual Machine — a piece of software that allows it to run inside a window as an application on my laptop — but it’s possible to also run it as the main operating system on a computer.
The installation process is relatively easy. I have most of the main More >
Red Star 3.0 Desktop finally becomes public
Dec 30th
The latest version of North Korea’s home-grown desktop operating system, Red Star Linux 3.0, was uploaded to BitTorrent on Monday.
We first got a look at the operating system almost a year ago when screenshots were posted online.
A link to a download file was included in a message on Pastebin that was uploaded by someone who goes by the nicknames “slipstream” and “raylee,” that’s the same person who released the server version of Red Star Linux 3.0 earlier this year.
That previous release was a version for computer servers while this latest release is intended for use on conventional PCs.
I’ve posted an install guide and will have more on the applications More >
SiliVaccine – North Korea’s anti-virus scanner
Sep 16th
In a country where most computers aren’t connected to the Internet, an anti-virus scanner might not seem like much of a necessity. But since 2002, programmers in the country have been working on SiliVaccine, a home grown anti-virus application that is now in its fourth version.
I was recently sent a current version that runs on Windows XP and here’s what it looks like.
The splash screen for version 4 shows a copyright date of 2002 to 2011, the latter year likely indicating when this version was first published. The version I received had a virus pattern file — the database used More >
North Korea proposes expanding work with Russian IT companies
Aug 21st
A North Korean state IT company has approached Russia’s Information and Computer Technologies Industry Association (APKIT) proposing a greater working relationship with Russian IT companies.
The country apparently wants to win business from Russian companies and the Pyongyang Kwangmyong IT Corp. held talks with APKIT in July and August, according to the APKIT.
As part of those talks, the North Korean company proposed a number of areas of collaboration and provided details of the skills possessed by its staff in Pyongyang. Those documents were seen by North Korea Tech.
A portion of a proposal from the Pyongyang Kwangmyong IT Corp. presented to Russia’s APKIT. (Photo: More >
Glorious Leader video game plots North Korean tale
May 16th
An Atlanta-based start-up game studio has set North Korea as the ambitious target of its first video game.
Moneyhorse Games revealed some demonstration gameplay video and screenshots from the game, “Glorious Leader,” earlier this week. It’s due out towards the end of 2014 and will be available on Android and possibly other platforms, according to Jeff Miller, who runs the company.
Miller said his inspiration for the game came from an interest with North Korea.
Gamers will play the role of Kim Jong Un who, as he prepares to play a friendly basketball game against Dennis Rodman and friends, is forced to give up More >
Review: The North Korea travel app
May 16th
Whether you’re heading to Pyongyang on an organized tour or fancy a spot of armchair North Korean travel, there’s now an app for that.
Last week, London-based Uniquely Travel launched what it calls the “ultimate travel guide” to the DPRK. The app, available for iOS and Android, contains details on just over 350 items of interest for tourists, including hotels, restaurants, museums and beauty spots.
You can delve into the entries in the app in two ways. One is through a comprehensive alphabetical list organized by category and the other is by region, divided by North Korean county and then major cities.
The app provides More >
Red Star 3.0 desktop images posted
Mar 3rd
If you want to give your computer desktop a touch of North Korea’s Red Star Linux without installing the operating system, now you can.
Will Scott, the computer scientist who brought back a copy of the new operating system last year, has posted the desktop background images from Red Star 3.0 to a Google+ album.
The look and feel of Red Star has been updated to resemble closely that of Apple’s Mac OS X, but the desktop backgrounds have a distinctly North Korean feel.
There are eight in the set, including this one below, and you can download individual images or grab the More >
North Korea’s Red Star OS goes Mac
Jan 31st
Poor Microsoft. It seems North Korea doesn’t like the traditional Windows-look anymore.
The latest version of the country’s home-grown operating system, Red Star Linux, has been restyled and ships with a desktop that closely resembles Apple’s Mac OSX. The previous version was based on the popular KDE desktop that mimicked that of Windows 7.
Red Star Linux was developed by the Korea Computer Center (KCC), a major center of software programming in Pyongyang, and is based on Linux, the open-source operating system originally developed by Linus Torvalds.
Open-source software is offered to the world under a license that allows anyone to adapt and More >
Medicine database developed at Pyongyang Medical College Hospital
Apr 10th
Pyongyang Medical College Hospital at Kim Il Sung University has developed a database of thousands of drugs, according to North Korean TV and radio reports.
The “clinical medicine information service system” contains details on 12,000 pharmaceuticals and 154,000 kinds of medicines from more than 50 countries, according to a report carried by Voice of Korea.
“It has also more than 15,000 words for search concerning indications, side-effects and contra-indications so that everyone can freely search information on medicines on their basis,” VOK said in its report.
http://www.northkoreatech.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/130410-vok-medicine.mp3A 90-second report on the system also made the Tuesday evening TV news (below), but I haven’t More >
Phoenix regains Sinji brand name
Feb 18th
Phoenix Commercial Ventures, one of North Korea’s few domestic/foreign IT joint ventures, has reacquired rights to the Sinji brand, trademark and associated intellectual property rights, it said Monday.
Sinji was launched in 2005 as a software development company as a 50/50 joint venture with the Korea Committee for the Promotion of External Economic Cooperation (CPEEC), which reports to directly to the Cabinet.
Phoenix sold off its half stake in the business in November 2010 to an unnamed buyer.
With today’s announcement, the Sinji brand and associated rights are back in the hands of Phoenix, although the company isn’t saying what it plans to do with them.
“Phoenix Commercial More >
