Communications in North Korea

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Template:CIA Communications in North Korea

Contents 1 Telephones 1.1 Mobile phones 1.2 Telephone system 2 Radio broadcast stations 3 Television broadcast stations 4 Internet 5 See also

Telephones

Main lines in use: 1.1 million (2001)

Mobile phones

In November 2002, cell phones were introduced to North Korea and by November 2003, 20,000 North Koreans had bought cell phones. On May 24, 2004 cell phones were banned. North Korea supposedly still has a mobile network in Pyongyang which is open for government officials and maybe foreigners, but not to locals.

Telephone system

international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Russian (Indian Ocean Region); other international connections through Moscow and Beijing

Radio broadcast stations

AM 16, FM 14, shortwave 12 (1999)

Radios: 3.36 million (1997)

Visitors are not allowed to bring a radio. As part of the government's information blockade policy, North Korean radios and televisions must be modified to only receive government stations. These modified radios and televisions are also subject to inspection at random. The removal of the official seal is punishable by law.

Television broadcast stations

100

There are three national channels, although two of them only broadcast in the evenings and during the weekends.

4 (includes Korean Central Television, Mansudae Television, Korean Educational and Cultural Network, and Kaesong Television targeting South Korea) (2003) (From Cia World Fact Book)

Televisions: 1.2 million (1997)

Internet

In 2003 a join venture called KCC Europe between Jan Holterman Consulting in Berlin and the North Korean government brought the commercial internet to North Korea. The connection is established through a satellite linke from North Korea to Servers located in Germany. This link ended the need to dial ISP in China.

[1]).

In 2002 the first Internet cafe opened ([2], [3], [4]). It is connected via a line to China. Foreign visitors can link their computers to the Internet through international phone lines available in a few hotels in Pyongyang. In 2005 a new internet cafe openend in Pyongyang, connected not through China, but through the North Korean satellite link. The only content filtered is pornography.

KCC Europe is attempting to regulate the .kp domain, but legal challenges make this so far impossible. The biggest problem is the lack of a diplomatic representation of North Korea in the US.

Country code: KP

See also

• List of Korea-related topics