The country has been famous for controlling its media, and it is imposing that criteria to new means of communications such as mobile phones and the Internet.
Limited Mobile Phone Service
North Korean launched a 3G mobile phone service in December last year, according to The People’s Korea, a North Korean newspaper published in Japan. This news source reports that as of April, about 20,000 people have signed up.
However, the service is currently only available in the capital city of Pyongyang and on the highway between Pyongyang and Hyangsan (a city about 75 miles northeast of Pyongyang). Phone calls are also restricted to domestic calls.
Interestingly enough, this is not the first time North Korea is offering a mobile phone service. There was a service that was opened in November 2002, but a year and a half later, it was abruptly shut down with no explanation as to why.
Web Access Is Minimal
Now, Internet service is offered through that mobile phone service, too, according to the AFP. However, the Internet that North Koreans get is not the same as the Internet in other countries. North Koreans will only have access to websites run by the Korean Central News Agency, which is run by the North Korean government.
One such website is Ryomyong.com. The site contains straight news and other “feature-type” news such as “results of the Children’s baduk tournament” (baduk is a board game also known as "go") and a feature page on Mount Baekdu, the highest peak in Korea. These feature pages are accompanied by text, photos, and videos.
The site also has a couple dozen books and e-books (costs 3.5- 5 euro to download) which are mostly literature pertaining to North Korea-- North Korean political history, North Korean ideology, facts about Kim Jong-Il, etc.-- as well as a handful of novels written by North Korean writers. Other content includes music (all North Korean music), a catalog of local agriculture products, and a cyber art gallery of North Korean artists.
Phone and Internet Service Control Part of Bigger Censorship
Although North Korea's tight reign over its media may seem strange to people living in developed countries, it is a policy that is not necessarily new.
There is no such thing as freedom of the press. All forms of media are censored by the government in North Korea-- from books, to radio and television. Broadcasting frequencies are set to a different system from the neighboring South Korea so that televisions in North Korea don't pick up Southern signals.
