Koryolink nears 2 million subscribers
Apr 26th
Koryolink, North Korea’s sole 3G cellular service provider, is close to hitting the 2 million subscriber mark.
The news was disclosed this week by the Koryolink CEO Ezz Heikal in Pyongyang and later confirmed by the company’s head office in Cairo. It means that Koryolink will have roughly doubled its subscriber base in the last 15 months. Koryolink hit a million subscribers in early February 2012.
Only a few years ago it would have been unusual to see anyone in Pyongyang speaking on a cell phone, but that all began to change in December 2008 when Koryolink launched its service. It’s now available across Pyongyang, More >
Choson Sinbo reacts to user database hack
Apr 24th
Choson Sinbo (조선신보, 朝鮮新報), the newspaper of the DPRK-affiliated Korean community in Japan, has apologized to its readers after its user database was leaked over the weekend by hackers.
The Tokyo-based newspaper ran an apology on its website in both Korean and Japanese in which it acknowledged the Saturday attack resulted in the disclosure of private information about registered users of the web site.
The database, seen by NorthKoreaTech.org, contained the usernames and email addresses of 3,667 registered users. The vast majority of the users appear to be based in Japan and the email addresses leaked include those of companies, universities, personal addresses and cell phones.
In reaction to the attack, More >
Possible evidence of DPRK’s February nuclear test detected
Apr 24th
A nuclear monitoring station in Japan has recorded what could be the first detection of radioactive noble gases from February’s nuclear test in the DPRK.
The station is in Takasaki, about 100 kilometers northwest of Tokyo and about 1,000 kilometers from North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site, and is operated by the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), which made the announcement on Tuesday.
Detected were two radioactive isotopes of the noble gas xenon: xenon-131m and xenon-133 — something the CTBTO called “rather unusual.”
Noble gases are one of four things the CTBTO looks out for in its nuclear monitoring process. That’s because the gases can be released by either More >
Eric Schmidt and the North Korean Internet dilemma
Apr 23rd
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt has said a little bit more about his January trip to Pyongyang. [Updated: see below]
The “private, humanitarian” mission, as Schmidt termed it, surprised many and saw him turn up in Pyongyang with his daughter Sophie Schmidt, Jared Cohen, head of the Google Ideas think tank, former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and Kun “Tony” Namkung, a U.S.-based businessman that acts as a go-between in some deals between the U.S. and North Korea.
Schmidt and Cohen, who haven’t said much about the trip since leaving Pyongyang, penned a dual-bylined article in the Wall Street Journal on Saturday about the trip. The article, More >
Thousands more DPRK-related website account details published
Apr 21st
The personal details of thousands of users of three North Korean-related websites have been published by hackers.
The details include names, email addresses, user names and in some cases addresses and phone numbers of people to the three sites: the Japan-based Choson Sinbo (조선신보, 朝鮮新報) newspaper, the China-based Ryomyong (려명) site and the U.S.-based Korea American National Coordinating Council (재미동포전국연합회).
The details were apparently stolen by hackers working under the banner of the Anonymous group, who have been attacking North Korean-related websites for the last few weeks.
The largest database dump was that of the Choson Sinbo, which contained 3,667 records. The Ryomyong database numbered just over 1,300 users More >
KCTV gets more connected
Apr 20th
Korean Central Television, the DPRK’s main nationwide TV channel, appears to have received another technology upgrade.
New satellite images uploaded to Google Earth show four satellite dishes on the roof of a building at the TV and radio broadcasting center. They weren’t there a few months ago.
It’s interesting because previously the TV and radio broadcasting center didn’t appear to have any link with the rest of the world. At least, nothing direct it controlled. It’s quite possible that signals from overseas were downlinked somewhere else and supplied over cable to the building.
Here’s the building as shown in a Google image from More >
Hackers leak more user details
Apr 17th
A fresh batch of user names and personal details of people subscribing to North Korean-related websites has been published by hackers. They are the result of weekend attacks on the websites minjok.com and paekdu-hanna.com, two U.S.-based websites.
Links to the information were posted on Twitter by accounts associated with the loosely coordinated hacker group “Anonymous.” The group previously claimed credit for the attacks.
Minjok.com is the site of Minjok Tongshin, which carries Korean and English-language news about North Korea. The English articles are mostly culled from other media. Paekdu-hanna is an associated site that appears to be run by the same group.
Of More >
DPRK protests results of hacking probe
Apr 13th
The DPRK is loudly protesting the preliminary results of a South Korean investigation that found it was behind widespread computer disruption that hit several TV stations and banks on March 20. [Updated, see below.]
The computer attacks wiped clean the hard disk drives of around 48,000 personal computers and servers inside broadcasters KBS, MBC and YTN, and the Shinhan, Nonghyup and Jeju Banks.
In an almost 2,000 word response carried on the state-run KCNA newswire, the main results of the investigation were picked through and discounted. The article, which came a day after Seoul disclosed its findings, was attributed to a spokesman for the General Staff of More >
US wants VOA, RFA transmitter in South Korea
Apr 11th
The organization that runs America’s international broadcasting services wants to build a transmitter in South Korea to give Voice of America and Radio Free Asia a better signal into the DPRK.
The Broadcasting Board of Governors disclosed the plan in its annual budget request, which was published on Wednesday.
The plan, if realized, could mean a substantially stronger and more reliable signal for the two stations, but is likely to attract jamming by North Korean authorities.
The BBG is seeking to construct a new medium wave transmitter in South Korea. This transmitter, optimally situated in a location near the border with North Korea, would More >
South fingers North in March cyberattacks
Apr 11th
South Korea’s government has concluded the March 20 cyberattacks that hit three of the country’s TV broadcasters and three of its banks were launched by attackers linked to the North Korean government.
The attacks began at 2pm local time on March 20 and caused the complete deletion of data on hard disk drives in roughly 48,000 personal computers inside broadcasters KBS, MBC and YTN, and the Shinhan, Nonghyup and Jeju Banks.
North Korean hackers were suspected almost immediately although unusually the government in Seoul wasn’t quick to point its finger. Officials launched an investigation and it was the preliminary conclusions of that work More >
