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[alr1ght]

http://www.fastcolabs.com/3036049/what-its-like-to-use-north-koreas-internet

Instead of access to the Internet, Williams tells me, the country has an intranet—an internal collection of networked servers and computers that is only accessible from inside North Korea’s borders. The name of this intranet is Kwangmyong, which roughly translates into "Bright" in English.

Estimates for the number of websites on Kwangmyong range between 1,000 to 5,000 and their content is mainly dedicated to news propaganda, educational and reference materials, and scanned archives. Besides its limited state-hosted websites, Kwangmyong also has a search engine, news groups functionality, and even a messaging system similar to email.

The government dictates usage rules for even the tiniest minutiae of Kwangmyong, including the underlying HTML code used on every website. One such coding mandate dictates that every time Kim Jong Il’s, Kim Il Sung’s, or Kim Jong Un’s names appear on a website their font will be 20% larger than the rest of the text on the page.

Connection to the real Internet is limited to a few dozen "elites" as they’re known. These are people in families in Pyongyang who have high-level connections in the government or military. The government has also allowed access to the broader Internet to select scientists and university students. In such cases Internet access is granted because it allows scientists and students to gather resources and learn from experts abroad, which helps advance the aims of the state in such areas as engineering, technological innovation, economics, and agriculture.

The government believes fear will keep them in line. "In almost all cases, all of the people that have Internet access are usually in a room and in a little room next door to the room where all the Internet computers are someone’s sitting in there basically in real time, monitoring what everybody is looking at," Williams says. "They realize if they’re on the Internet, that going and looking at Korean-language websites and free news is a very stupid thing to do because they could get caught very quickly."

Yet North Korea does have a rapidly growing 3G network called Koryolink. Introduced in 2008, the network was a joint venture between the state-owned Korea Post and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC) and an Egyptian company called Global Telecom Holding.

But just as with its PCs, the mobile phones available to Koryolink subscribers are cut off from the real Internet. Users can make calls to other users inside the country, and they can access the intranet, but any access to numbers outside of North Korea or the global Internet is not possible. And as can be expected, members of the Koryolink network receive daily propaganda text messages espousing the virtues and greatness of their country’s leaders.

The government seems to realize North Koreans see how advanced the rest of the world is. Some of them will travel to China. Others will watch dramas and movies smuggled from South Korea, or read websites like Wikipedia that are saved to a USB stick and literally floated into the country by a helium balloon released over the border. In the north by the Chinese border some North Koreans will risk connecting to open Wi-Fi or 3G Chinese networks on smuggled smartphones to access the outside Internet. Now, more than ever, North Koreans are waking up to what life is really like outside their borders.

 

[Falcs]

We really take for granted how awesome it is living in "western" countries, don't you think?

 

[Tathanen]

Others will watch dramas and movies smuggled from South Korea, or read websites like Wikipedia that are saved to a USB stick and literally floated into the country by a helium balloon released over the border.

Jesus.

 

[Mr. Poolman]

Everytime I read anything new on NK I'm reminded on how a successful tool is fear

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

Oh so that CNN article was for real?

 

[R10Neymarfan]

Jesus.

The day when their people revolt will be the day this country can just be gone

 

[redmetal86]

So much effort, just to keep everyone from seeing everything on the Internet.

 

[Hero Prinny]

LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOO OH SHIT!!!! Son, i thought people were joking about the internet at North Korea but its actually true. man that fucking blows

 

[FullMetalx117]

it's hard to comprehend that stuff i read from books like "Anthem" or "1984" are actually happening in the real world.

 

[The Last Wizard]

The day when their people revolt will be the day this country can just be gone

Doubt they ever will, they people really don't seem to have the odds in their favor.

 

[CrimzonSamurai]

That part about the names being required to be in 20% larger font is the most cartoon dictator crap I've ever heard.

It's like they read a comic featuring Dr. Doom and said "hey let's run with this shit!"

 

[IISANDERII]

Everytime I read anything new on NK I'm reminded on how a successful tool is fear

I'm reminded of that any time religion enters my mind.

 

[Purkake4]

Jesus.

I'm surprised all computers don't come with USB disabled in hardware.

 

[Chris R]

I'm surprised all computers don't come with USB disabled in hardware.

Even worse, they come with Firewire

 

[AngryMoth]

Best way to get them back for the Sony hack would be to (if possible?) hack into their intranet and upload information about the human rights violations and atrocities committed by the government, information about what life is like in the rest of the world and examples of popular south korean media.

But then I suppose the west doesn't really want to start a revolt. I understand the negative economic consequences to the region regime change would bring but I still can only feel that it is an absolute travesty such an abhorrent dictatorship has been allowed to exist for such a long time.

 

[Josh7289]

We really take for granted how awesome it is living in "western" countries, don't you think?

I agree. As much as there are serious problems that we need to work on in our own countries, overall it doesn't even compare to what the people of countries like North Korea live with. It's really tragic.

 

[Yamauchi]

I have two old friends from North Korea that occasionally get on Facebook. It seems that internet usage is not as restricted there as is commonly believed, or there are easy workarounds (using Chinese cell networks, possibly?).

 

[CheDominik]

Doubt they ever will, they people really don't seem to have the odds in their favor.

Eh, people said the same about the soviet satellite states. They will crumble one day, just like China's regime. And I would bet money on it that it'll happen in my lifetime.

Spoiler

People probably said the same thing about Castro

But ever is such a strong word, 60 years is merely a blip in history

 

[Blader]

The day when their people revolt will be the day this country can just be gone

They are probably physically unable to even try to.

 

[southsidewolf]

Sounds like it's basically GTA Internet.

 

[Anjelus_]

I firmly believe that government will collapse well within our lifetimes. Does anyone really see this Eric Cartman wannabe having a baby and continuing this nonsense into a fourth generation? How long can this really go on?

 

[Moppet13]

I have two old friends from North Korea that occasionally get on Facebook. It seems that internet usage is not as restricted there as is commonly believed, or there are easy workarounds (using Chinese cell networks, possibly?).

Probably an ignorant question, but how did you get 2 friends from North Korea?

 

[Enco]

LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOO OH SHIT!!!! Son, i thought people were joking about the internet at North Korea but its actually true. man that fucking blows

The internet is the least of their worries.

NK is a shithole. It's really sad how the majority of people live there. Labour camps with torture/public executions/unjust imprisonment, a starving population, extreme fear and propaganda, and insane corruption.

I would give it the award of worst country.

 

[Tallshortman]

I have two old friends from North Korea that occasionally get on Facebook. It seems that internet usage is not as restricted there as is commonly believed, or there are easy workarounds (using Chinese cell networks, possibly?).

Either they're part of the elite or live close to the chinese border where it's possible to get on chinese networks as you mentioned. Though I will say the point is less about whether they can access the internet as the vast majority of the country is so poor getting an internet capable device is a laughable thought to them.

 

[The Last Wizard]

Eh, people said the same about the soviet satellite states. They will crumble one day, just like China's regime. And I would bet money on it that it'll happen in my lifetime.

Spoiler

People probably said the same thing about Castro

But ever is such a strong word, 60 years is merely a blip in history

True, I look forward to that day. Hope I live to see it as it willing of the biggest events in modern history.

 

[terrisus]

Relevant:

(Internet usage, run through time of day, for anyone unaware)

 

[Bodacious]

We really take for granted how awesome it is living in "western" countries, don't you think?

I sincerely believe that every government on the face of the planet would have us living like this if they could get away with it. I probably read too much George Orwell and similar while growing up, but there you have it. This is why I tend to swing libertarian and small government ... power corrupts, etc etc.

 

[Piggus]

How hard is it for North Koreans to travel to China? You would think anyone travelling from NK to China for the first time would wake up to what's going on with their country and therefore travel to China would be heavily restricted.

 

[blame space]

i wonder if they have message boards

 

[MoodyFog]

Relevant:



(Internet usage, run through time of day, for anyone unaware)

Why is Darth Vader's shadow coming through the map

 

[Chris R]

Why is Darth Vader's shadow coming through the map

represents day/night cycle

 

[Persona7]

Whatever happened to that thing where random citizens were connecting to open government wifi routers? Or am I thinking of another country.

 

[Khaz]

Best way to get them back for the Sony hack would be to (if possible?) hack into their intranet and upload information about the human rights violations and atrocities committed by the government, information about what life is like in the rest of the world and examples of popular south korean media.

But then I suppose the west doesn't really want to start a revolt. I understand the negative economic consequences to the region regime change would bring but I still can only feel that it is an absolute travesty such an abhorrent dictatorship has been allowed to exist for such a long time.

Not a good idea, the North koreans accessing these data can be tracked by their government and then sent to camps.

 

[Trouble]

Even worse, they come with Firewire

http://www.hiyoooo.com

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

i wonder if they have message boards

Just one.

Total hive mind.

 

[Fiktion]

How hard is it for North Koreans to travel to China? You would think anyone travelling from NK to China for the first time would wake up to what's going on with their country and therefore travel to China would be heavily restricted.

Only higher ranking, trusted officials can travel to China legally.

 

[Brianâ˜]

How hard is it for North Koreans to travel to China? You would think anyone travelling from NK to China for the first time would wake up to what's going on with their country and therefore travel to China would be heavily restricted.

Very hard, Chinese soldiers are right near the border of NK and China, looking for illegal smugglers.

 

[dallow_bg]

How hard is it for North Koreans to travel to China? You would think anyone travelling from NK to China for the first time would wake up to what's going on with their country and therefore travel to China would be heavily restricted.

It's impossible to travel for 99.9% of the population.

 

[Trouble]

Just one.

Total hive mind.

JucheGAF

 

[Daedardus]

Relevant:



(Internet usage, run through time of day, for anyone unaware)

Well, also relevant (except for maybe Africa) :

 

[Yamauchi]

Probably an ignorant question, but how did you get 2 friends from North Korea?

They were my students in a Southeast Asian country. They were part of a larger community of North Koreans involved in the import and export trade in that country. There were several North Korean owned restaurants and so on. I also knew a diplomat who served in North Korea for several years, and by getting to know these people I learned that a lot that I thought I knew about North Korea was wrong. As B.R. Myers notes, even the large majority of defectors end up bribing their way back into North Korea.

Either they're part of the elite or live close to the chinese border where it's possible to get on chinese networks as you mentioned. Though I will say the point is less about whether they can access the internet as the vast majority of the country is so poor getting an internet capable device is a laughable thought to them.

They live in Pyongyang. They may be elites, but they are no where near in the top couple dozen that the article in the original post argues are the only people in the country that have internet access.

 

[Piggus]

Only higher ranking, trusted officials can travel to China legally.

Very hard, Chinese soldiers are right near the border of NK and China, looking for illegal smugglers.

It's impossible to travel for 99.9% of the population.

Thanks!

 

[terrisus]

Well, also relevant (except for maybe Africa) :

If you think the map for North Korea scales along population lines, I'm not sure what to say.

 

[rjc571]

Relevant:



(Internet usage, run through time of day, for anyone unaware)

What's up with the one light in the middle of Greenland where nobody lives? I think somebody got stranded there and is frantically calling for help.

 

[Beatrix]

I seriously can't fathom what the average and daily life of a North Korean citizen is like.

 

[Piggus]

They were my students in a Southeast Asian country. They were part of a larger community of North Koreans involved in the import and export trade in that country. There were several North Korean owned restaurants and so on. I also knew a diplomat who served in North Korea for several years, and by getting to know these people I learned that a lot that I thought I knew about North Korea was wrong. As B.R. Myers notes, even the large majority of defectors end up bribing their way back into North Korea.


They live in Pyongyang. They may be elites, but they are no where near in the top couple dozen that the article in the original post argues are the only people in the country that have internet access.

Interesting. In your opinion what's the reason(s) for trying to get back into the country after defecting? I know there's a lot of misinformation about NK, but from what we DO know for certain, it seems like a pretty horrible place to live unless you rank high up in the government or have access to the outside world.

I seriously can't fathom what the average and daily life of a North Korean citizen is like.

Wake up

Praise Dear Leader

Die of starvation

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

absolutely crazy

 

[Purkake4]

Even worse, they come with Firewire

Add another human rights violation on that rap sheet.

Spoiler

For cruel and unusual punishment

 

[Yamauchi]

Interesting. In your opinion what's the reason(s) for trying to get back into the country after defecting? I know there's a lot of misinformation about NK, but from what we DO know for certain, it seems like a pretty horrible place to live unless you rank high up in the government or have access to the outside world.

I wouldn't want to put words into anyone's mouth. You can watch an enlightening talk by Mr. Myers here: http://www.c-span.org/video/?292562-1/book-discussion-cleanest-race B.R. Myers argues essentially that a lot of the propaganda and information that comes out of North Korea is designed for foreign -- not domestic -- consumption, and that the majority of North Koreans are quite content in their lives, possibly even more so than South Koreans who work on average about 60 hours a week, have incredibly high rates of stress and suicide, and who have emigrated from their nation in the millions.

 

[terrisus]

What's up with the one light in the middle of Greenland where nobody lives? I think somebody got stranded there and is frantically calling for help.

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