North Korea got its internet technology from WHO, S Korea

[KimJongUn]

North Korea got its internet technology from WHO, S Korea : report

Staff Reporter
2014-12-24

A military parade in Pyongyang's Kim Il-sung Square, Nov. 25, 2014. (File photo/Xinhua)

South Korean news outlets say the sources of North Korea's internet technologies came from the World Health Organization or from South Korea, reports Huanqiu, the website of the nationalistic tabloid Global Times.

One of the outlets cited said the WHO provided North Korea with equipment for remote healthcare such as computers and cameras. North Korea has been able to produce well made and advanced communication equipment and facilities with the optical fiber cable factory built in Pyongyang and its existing communication equipment factories which have been upgraded with modern technologies, said the outlet.

Another outlet meanwhile said North Korea obtained the technologies from the South. Seoul in 2009 provided technology to help North Korea construct optical fiber networks near non-military zones, link the two countries' networks for the Kaesong Industrial Park project and facilitate communication between their militaries. South Korea severed the link after relations later broke down, but North Korea could have used the technologies to expand the optical fiber network across the country.

The North Korean internet crashed for nine hours and 30 minutes on Monday. The internet was partially resumed on Tuesday and has completely recovered since. The incident occurred after the United States accused North Korea of being behind the damaging cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment over its comedy The Interview, which concerns an assassination attempt on Kim Jong-un.

There are only 1,024 known IP addresses in North Korea, according to CNN. This may seem minuscule compares to the 1.5 billion addresses in the United States but the North Korean addresses may be shared by more than one computer so that the number of internet-connected equipment in the country could be in the thousands, CNN said.

Tan Xiaosheng, a Chinese internet security expert, commented on the New York Times report that suggested North Korea's internet has been operating through China's cables and Russian satellites. It is normal for a country to link its internet network with other countries to access the internet around the world, said Tan. China Telecom and China Mobile have linked their networks with their US counterpart to offer internet services to users in China, the expert added.

Although Wi-Fi has been banned in North Korea, Global Times reporters in Pyongyang have been able to access the internet and carry out video chats via the country's internet network at 2M bit/s for US$545 per month. This is a privilege reserved for foreign nationals — North Koreans are only able to access an intranet that does not connect with the internet outside the country.

The intranet was built in 2000 and aimed to allow North Koreans to access information on their government's websites, Global Times said. People could access several websites and download books and information while college students were able to use an online bulletin board similar to social networking websites to share songs or send birthday messages to their professors.

The country's optical fiber networks have been providing internet service for nine hospitals, two libraries, nuclear research facilities, electricity and medical systems as well as military, said one of the South Korean news outlets. The North Korean military could provide medical information to soldiers at the frontline and adjust their units' deployments in the event of future conflict, said the South Korean media.