AP president concludes latest visit to Pyongyang
Oct 10th
Gary Pruitt, president and CEO of the Associated Press
The president and CEO of the Associated Press, Gary Pruitt, just concluded a four-day visit to Pyongyang during which he toured the city and sat down for an interview with Kim Yong Nam, president of the country’s parliament.
The visit was the first reported trip to North Korea for Pruitt, who took over as CEO of the AP just over a year earlier.
The AP became the first western news agency to open a text and photo bureau in Pyongyang in January 2012 and AP executives have made several visits to the country.
Former AP More >
South Korea eyes high-tech blimps at the border
Oct 1st
A blimp lifts off from its launch pad at Forward Operating Base Shank, Logar province, Afghanistan, on July 31. (File Photo: US Army / Spc. Theodore Schmidt)
South Korean defense officials plan to soon launch a high-tech blimp just south of the disputed maritime border with North Korea in November to get a better look into the neighboring country, according to a report in Stars and Stripes.
The airship will hover over the island group that includes Yeonpyong, which is the island that was shelled by North Korean forces in 2010 resulting in the deaths of four South Koreans.
The newspaper quoted a spokesman for More >
Autumn trade fair begins in Pyongyang
Sep 24th
The second of Pyongyang’s two annual international trade fairs opened on Monday.
The Pyongyang Autumn International Trade Fair is scheduled to run until Thursday and has attracted companies from Germany, Russia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, Italy, China, Cuba, Turkey and Taiwan, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
In previous years, the fair has been the launching point for new tablet computers. Nothing was mentioned about new computers in Monday’s local press coverage, although Monday’s main evening news bulletin on Korea Central Television (below) did show again the Samjiyon tablet computer
You can find a full review of the Samjiyon tablet here, and details of its More >
Pyongyang gets 3D movies
Sep 17th
Could North Korea be on the cusp of a 3D movie boom? A movie theater capable of showing 3D motion pictures has been built at Pyongyang’s Rungna People’s Pleasure Park, according to a weekend report by the state-run Korea Central News Agency.
The theater, which also includes video game rooms, was inspected recently by Kim Jong Un, who called for similar theaters to be built across the country, the report said.
Movies were a passion of Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il. He is said to have had a massive collection of movies that spanned the the classics to modern films More >
Minju Joson criticizes U.S. spy satellite launch
Sep 16th
North Korea’s Minju Joson newspaper on Saturday criticized the recent launch of a new spy satellite by the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, according to a report on the state-run Korea Central News Agency.
The classified satellite, called NROL-65, was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on August 28 into an orbit that is used by spy satellites.
Not much is known about the satellite, but it’s thought to be the latest addition to the Keyhole constellation of reconnaissance satellites. As such, it will likely strengthen the ability of the U.S. intelligence community to look into North Korea.
Thus, the Minju Joson isn’t More >
Kim Jong Un visits ‘cell phone factory’
Aug 12th
Kim Jong Un visited on Saturday the Pyongyang factory where North Korean cell phones are supposedly made, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
The Android-based AS1201 “Arirang” cell phone, reportedly produced by the May 11 Factory in Pyongyang.
Photos of the visit, released by KCNA, show Kim touring the May 11 Factory and talking to officials. There’s also a picture of what’s said to be the latest cell phone on the North Korean market, an Android phone called “Arirang.” (See right, click for larger image.)
The visit came two years and two weeks since Kim Jong Un last visited the factory. That More >
North Korean newspaper hits out at U.S. cyber warfare policy
Aug 12th
Citing a top secret U.S. government document leaked by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, North Korea’s Minju Joson newspaper has attacked America’s cyber warfare policy calling it an “open threat to mankind” and a “declaration of the cyber war.”
The Presidential Policy Directive 20, an October 2012 paper that outlined U.S. cyber operations policy for those in the highest officials in the U.S. government, called for a list of potential targets for possible U.S. cyber attacks under the umbrella of “Offensive Cyber Effects Operations.”
That’s likely worried North Korea, which probably has a better chance than many other nations of making such a list.
“This means that More >
Exclusive: North Korea’s Samjiyon tablet — Made in China?
Aug 4th
One of the most interesting questions surrounding North Korea’s Samjiyon tablet is its source. State media reports not withstanding, the tablet is almost certainly not made in North Korea — the country just doesn’t have the electronics manufacturing capability to design products like tablet computers from the components up.
And anyway, why bother? Companies in Taiwan and China offer many finished tablet designs that are widely used, even by well-known western brand names, so why go through the work and expense of designing something from scratch?
North Korea’s IT expertise is in software and that’s where the Samjiyon is very North Korean. There More >
Review: Samjiyon tablet
Aug 1st
North Korea, like the rest of the world, is getting hooked on tablet computers. In the last year, state media has highlighted three different tablet computers that are now, according to the reports, available in the country.
The latest of these, the Samjiyon (삼지연), is also on sale to foreigners and one of the tablets was recently purchased by a tech-savvy tourist. The tourist, Michael, doesn’t want to use his surname, but I’ve spoken extensively with him via e-mail, phone and Skype video chat about the tablet and how it performs.
The Samjiyon first appeared to the world at the 8th Pyongyang Autumn International Trade More >
WRN adds satellite-fed Voice of Korea broadcasts
Jul 23rd
High-quality recordings of Voice of Korea programs are now available on-demand via the London-based World Radio Network.
Voice of Korea is North Korea’s international radio broadcaster.
WRN, which rebroadcasts international radio stations, previously experimented with offering Voice of Korea shortwave programs, but the quality of the reception was poor and the service ended a few weeks ago with no explanation.
Now it’s back and the quality is better than ever.
WRN is carrying the 57 minute daily broadcast of Voice of Korea in English, Arabic, Chinese, French and Russian. Each program includes the daily news, features on life in North Korea, the exploits of More >
