Koryolink international calling rates detailed
Jan 23rd
Over the weekend a series of stories from Pyongyang reported that visitors to North Korea can now buy SIM cards for the local Koryolink network so they can make international calls while in the country.
Thanks to an update from Young Pioneer Tours, which was the first to report on the new service, we now know how much those calls will cost.
Visitors have three options for purchasing a SIM card:
- A 50 euro (US$67) card that is valid indefinitely and can be used on repeat visits. An unspecified amount of prepaid calling is included.
- A two-week rental SIM card, which costs 50 euro More >
Eric Schmidt on his North Korean visit
Jan 21st
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt has posted some thoughts on his recent trip to Pyongyang. The comments appeared on his Google Plus page on Saturday, the same day his daughter also posted her impressions of the trip.
The executive’s comments won’t provide any big revelations, at least they shouldn’t to readers of this blog. He generally reiterates that it was a private visit aimed at exploring some of the technology in North Korea and exchanging views with local officials.
On his arrival in Beijing after leaving Pyongyang, Schmidt told reporters he had advised the North Koreans to open up to the Internet. If More >
Policy change allows tourist cell phones, Internet to come, says Xinhua
Jan 20th
The North Korean government is now allowing tourists to keep hold of their cell phones when they enter the country and buy SIM cards on the local network, according to a report by China’s Xinhua news agency.
The report comes hours after Young Pioneer Tours said tourists on their most recent trip were able to take in cell phones.
Quoting an unnamed Egyptian technician with Koryolink, the Egyptian-Korean joint venture that operates North Korea’s sole 3G network, Xinhua reported that the policy changed on January 7 this year.
The technician said visitors should have to register their cell phone when they enter the country More >
DPRK officials indicated Internet is inevitable, says Sophie Schmidt
Jan 20th
Sophie Schmidt in Pyongyang, in an image from her blog
Sophie Schmidt, the daughter of Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, has written a comprehensive blog post about her recent trip to Pyongyang and included in her revelations: North Korean officials seemed to acknowledge they can’t keep the Internet out.
The posting is perhaps the most complete account yet of the visit by any member of the group, which went around Pyongyang largely unobserved except by local Associated Press reporters.
In the post, entitled “Sophie in North Korea,” Sophie Schmidt writes about the impressions she got of the city, country and sights she saw on the More >
Tourists allowed to take in cell phones
Jan 20th
Young Pioneer Tours, one of the handful of agencies taking tourists into North Korea, reports that a group just returned from the country were permitted by customs officials to take their cell phones into the country.
The news is intriguing because North Korea has long taken phones from visitors as they cross the border. The phones were kept in small pouches and returned to visitors as they were leaving the country.
Indeed, just a couple of weeks earlier, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and his party left their cell phones in Beijing before traveling to Pyongyang because they assumed they would be taken More >
Maybe North Korea didn’t hack us after all, says South
Jan 18th
Well, this is a little embarrassing. The presidential transition team that Thursday blamed North Korean hackers for an attack on its press room now says there was no hacking. It all appears to have been a misunderstanding.
Reporting on the reversal, Yonhap quoted an official on the team as saying the allegations stemmed from a disconnect in communications within the team.
“Security authorities had asked the administrative office of the transition committee to advise reporters to use antivirus programs and change passwords often as the press room is vulnerable to outside hacking attempts,” spokesman Yoon Chang-jung said.
“There was some misunderstanding in the course of delivering this,” More >
Suspected DPRK cyber attacks back in the news
Jan 17th
Cyber attacks on South Korean networks suspected to have originated in North Korea are back in the news.
On Thursday, Yonhap News reported that a computer server handling the Internet connection for the press rooms at South Korea’s presidential transition team had been hacked.
The hack, which was not detailed, was detected during a security check by “intelligence authorities,” said Yonhap. Other computers in the transition office had not been hacked, the report said quoting an unnamed official.
The news comes a day after the National Police Agency blamed North Korea for a 2012 attack on the Joong Ang Ilbo newspaper. The NPA said it came to its More >
DPRK tablet PC can receive TV broadcasts
Jan 14th
North Korea’s main evening news featured a minute-long report on the tablet computers on Thursday night.
The report, which focused on the Samjiyon tablet, interviewed a man identified as the chief engineer of the tablet from the Multimedia Technology Research Institute of the Korea Computer Center.
The tablet first made an appearance in September at the Pyongyang Autumn International Trade Fair, and the television news report revealed that the tablet can receive television broadcasts.
There were several shots of the tablet showing images from Korea Central Television.
The report appeared to show several different computers, including a laptop with a detachable screen that could be used More >
KCNA’s new site gets Juche date
Jan 13th
Just over a week since the Korean Central News Agency completed a major overhaul of its website, several elements of the new site have been changed.
The changes address a couple of things that surprised me when I first reviewed the site on January 5.
The first is the addition of a Juche date.
The date is typically listed in North Korean with a Juche year, then perhaps the western year in parathesis. Juche is the spirit of self reliance on which Kim Il Sung founded the country, and the Juche year refers to the number of years since the birth of Kim More >
Ranking Eric Schmidt’s Pyongyang trip
Jan 12th
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt is back from Pyongyang. His visit made headlines around the world, but what about inside North Korea?
I took a look at the main 8pm evening news on North Korean TV to see where the visit ranked. Details of Eric Schmidt’s movements were reported on both Wednesday and Thursday.
Domestic news dominated the news both days, as it usually does. There were many items about workers across the country reacting to and supporting Kim Jong Un’s New Year address. The “Google delegation” news accounted for 30 seconds of the 10-minute bulletin on Wednesday, and 35 seconds of a More >
