North Korea launches online shopping site

Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang in May 2014 (UN Photo)

North Korea has launched an e-commerce site on its nationwide intranet, KCNA said Wednesday.

The site, which is accessible via PC and mobile telephone, is called ?? (Okryu) and includes consumer goods, medicine and food items. Users can search for goods they want to buy and also schedule delivery, said KCNA.

Payments for the goods can be made with an e-money card.

KCNA didn’t provide any images of the site and it didn’t make the Wednesday evening news on Korean Central Television.

The site is the latest sign that North Korea is keen to expand intranet services. The country’s distance education system, which allows students around the country to follow lectures from Pyongyang, is regularly featured in local media and there are more than 2.4 million subscribers to the mobile telephone network.

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