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North Korea Halts 3G Internet Access After One Month

Posted by Soulskill on from the just-testing-to-make-sure-the-rest-of-the-world-is-still-evil dept.

redletterdave writes "After just one month online, North Korea has pulled the plug on its only 3G data network, which was previously made available for tourists to access the Internet starting on Feb. 22. The North Korean government did not explain why its 3G network has been shut off, but given the raised level of international interest in the country's activities (the country is facing UN sanctions after its third nuclear test last month) and how it severed its final communication line with South Korea on Wednesday, the government likely had a change of heart about its loosening communication restrictions. That said, as with most things in North Korea, we may never know the real answer."

63 comments

  1. Visitors? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe they realized they don't get any visitors?

    1. Re:Visitors? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Naw.. Once the 3G installers went home, nobody knows where the power button is. So after the last unplanned power failure, they cannot turn it back on.

      My guess is that they where afraid that somebody would be able to access their network directly and/or provide network services within the country that they couldn't monitor or control directly. Access to anything but the "party" line story is simply not allowed in RNK where it is a crime to own a tunable radio. The network had to be shutdown until sufficient safeguards are in place. (I.E. They won't be turning it back on anytime soon, unless they happen to find out who's passing out cloned GSM phones and fake SIMs and get them into the forced labor camps... )

    2. Re:Visitors? by Orcris · · Score: 1

      What is the RNK? Do you mean DPRK?

  2. Dear Leader to premiere 10G network soon! by Looker_Device · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dear Leader only wanted 3G to show all how weak and stupid western 3G network is compared to Strong, Valiant Korean 10G network, coming soon!

    --
    Your political party doesn't care about your rights and only represents corporate interests.
    1. Re:Dear Leader to premiere 10G network soon! by noh8rz10 · · Score: 2

      I assume they only set it up in the first place to spy on visitor communications. NK is building out their cyber team as seen in SK attacks. I guess they decided the spy opportunity wasn't worth it compared to the flow of info into the country.

    2. Re:Dear Leader to premiere 10G network soon! by steelfood · · Score: 1

      Blackouts are known to occur at 10g speeds.

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
    3. Re:Dear Leader to premiere 10G network soon! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The 10G network streaming 100% patriotic music 100% of the time. Long live the revolution!

    4. Re:Dear Leader to premiere 10G network soon! by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      On the contrary. The official press release indicates that he freed his people of the tyranny of 3G in an act of Powerful Humility, after he discovered that 115% of the messages and calls being made were by Devoted Citizens using it to pass around Praise and Glory for their Dear Leader. Being filled with Powerful Humility and a lack of Western Capitalistic Jealousy, he chose to free them of the Burden of Glorifying him, thus allowing them to be twice as Valiantly Productive.

      If I recall correctly, that puts them roughly 20x ahead of the rest of us.

    5. Re:Dear Leader to premiere 10G network soon! by coma_bug · · Score: 1

      Strong, Valiant Korean 11G network

      FTFY.

    6. Re:Dear Leader to premiere 10G network soon! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe Dennis Rodman demanded 3G as a condition for his visit so he could update his Facebook page ... or do whatever Rodman does when he's online.

    7. Re:Dear Leader to premiere 10G network soon! by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 1

      ...or do whatever Rodman does when he's online.

      I'm pretty sure we don't want to know that.

    8. Re:Dear Leader to premiere 10G network soon! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is so fast that they ran out of internet, so there is nothing more to see.

  3. better link by schneidafunk · · Score: 4, Informative

    This article doesn't have a pop-up ad.

    --
    Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
    1. Re:better link by mister_playboy · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      What's a pop-up ad?

      sincerely,
      a AdBlock/NoScript user

      --
      Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law ::: Love is the law, love under will
    2. Re:better link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      good luck with that if html5 ever gets anywhere - if ads move to HTML/CSS there will be no way of blocking them without hiding all images and/or css on screen.

      about the only thing html5 is good for, is unblockable ads, and the browser vendors know it!!!

      if you like being advertised at constantly, you could be in for a treat!!

    3. Re:better link by flimflammer · · Score: 1

      I am truly terrified of this.

    4. Re:better link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I like a good shitstorm of terror as much as the next man, but why couldn't it be blocked?
      I can block/hide elements in browsers now (both FF and Chrome). So what is burying in HTML/CSS going to do besides bring on a whole new level of:
      ->right click
      ->hide/block element
      ->continue browsing

  4. Their only network engineer... by Midnight_Falcon · · Score: 3, Interesting
    ...probably got caught looking up the term "democracy" on the internet and all his family and friends sent off to gulag, so when network troubles happened after a month, they just let it go down.

    Too bad Kim Jong Il isn't still around. Last I heard, he claimed to be an "internet expert," and he was rumored to be an expert in all things..

    1. Re:Their only network engineer... by Synerg1y · · Score: 1

      I might actually have to agree here, they might've had insufficient IT resources to continue running it in the manner they wanted to.

      That or they thought South Korea was mooching off their 3g wireless.

    2. Re:Their only network engineer... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So are you saying that once Ill died, there was nobody left to take care of the 3G network and after having to reboot it too often during Rodman's visit they decided to bury the network with the old man?

    3. Re:Their only network engineer... by Reverand+Dave · · Score: 1

      That's why you need to put a password on it duh!

      --
      I got here through a series of tubes
    4. Re:Their only network engineer... by bkmoore · · Score: 3, Funny

      ....

      Too bad Kim Jong Il isn't still around. Last I heard, he claimed to be an "internet expert," and he was rumored to be an expert in all things..

      Kim Jong Il invented the internet while an undergraduate student at the Kim Jong Il university. This was during his artistic years when he composed such romantic operas "Kimi, the last of the Tribunes" and the "Flying Chinaman."

    5. Re:Their only network engineer... by bkmoore · · Score: 1

      1-2-3-4-5...funny, that's the password on my luggage.

    6. Re:Their only network engineer... by OakDragon · · Score: 3, Funny

      ...probably got caught looking up the term "democracy" on the internet and all his family and friends sent off to gulag...

      That's the North Korean "Friends & Family" plan.

      --
      Dark Reflection
    7. Re:Their only network engineer... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wake me up when their Friends & Family plan covers the "I know the names of the neighbor and his cousin so I tell that to the interrogators" like the Cambodian one did. The value of the social network is indescribable!

  5. Unhinged ... by gstoddart · · Score: 1

    I don't think we need to look further than the fact that NK has become fairly unhinged as of late, with a lot of bluster and threats.

    So either this is really just more penis waggling by the little runt to show he's got some balls, or they're really thinking about doing something.

    This could be them showing they can really do this (oooh, I'm impressed), or a prelude to something else.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Unhinged ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      "of late". They have been that way for at least 20+ years.

      One or more of three things is going to happen.

      They get more food/aid(money) and shut up for a bit (1-2 years). - most likely outcome
      They get more and more xenophobic and actually start a war.
      The people of NK rise up and take care of business.

    2. Re:Unhinged ... by gstoddart · · Score: 2

      "of late". They have been that way for at least 20+ years.

      Ever known someone with bipolar disorder? Same kind of thing ... you know they always have it, but sometimes they're just a little more 'out there' than usual.

      Last little while, Kim Jong Un has been blustering quite a bit more.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    3. Re:Unhinged ... by Lord+Apathy · · Score: 1

      I'm of the option that most world leaders are some what crazy. But in all honesty I believe the little runt may actually be insane. I don't mean figuratively, but medically certifiably bats ass insane.

      Hopefully someone, China?, will nut up and send in the brute squad to put him down before he moves from mildly annoying fruit basket to full blown menace. An I mean menace with nuclear weapons.

      --

      Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification

    4. Re:Unhinged ... by Yomers · · Score: 1

      I bet glorious leader just getting payed for trolling. He creates media events, or how its called, and additionally justifies US military budget - quite valuable!

  6. Dear Leader got the biggest roaming bill ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dear Leader got the biggest roaming bill ever and he did not pay up.

  7. Hold up by TheCarp · · Score: 0

    ....tourists? does the DPRK really have that many tourists? Like....can I get a visa to go there?

    I mean yes, I am an American, and its probably illegal and my own government will probably threaten me and insist on detaining me for interviews after I try to return but, it could totally be worth it for the experience of seeing some of the things I have read about first hand.

    Course if the DPRK did any searching on my online posts they would never give me a visa but.... tourists? That just boggles me. I mean, I hear they have some paper thin displays of modern city scapes and things setup just to fool foriegn visitors but, I never imagined anybody but officials and occasional journalists would be allowed in.

    I wonder how many minutes I would be there before I said something that got my Visa revoked and me shoved back on a plane?

    --
    "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    1. Re:Hold up by HungWeiLo · · Score: 1

      You can easily Google travelogues of many who have made the journey. The photos are very intriguing and amazingly surreal. It looks like a good chunk of these tourists are Americans. I believe all the tours operate out of an authorized travel agency based out of Beijing.

      All these tour experiences sound the same. The same 2 Mercedes sedans endlessly circling the city streets where the tour group happens to walk. The same suited men with briefcases who walk in and out of the subway trains. Lots and lots of food (not top-notch of course, but miles away from anything the general population outside of the major cities has ever laid eyes on). And lots of shows involving five digits worth of performers in a insanely large sports stadium. And constant watch from government tour minders - whom a few have successfully befriended enough to let loose the reigns a bit at times.

      --
      There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
    2. Re:Hold up by SIGBUS · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Obsolete by now, but still a good window into the weirdness of North Korea: http://www.vice.com/the-vice-guide-to-travel/vice-guide-to-north-korea-1-of-3 (warning: autoplay video)

      If you're from someplace that actually has diplomatic relations with them, it might be easier. Then there's this guy, who went with a friend via the Russian border (normally off-limits to Western tourists), spent 36 hours in North Korea without a guide, and somehow managed to stay out of jail: http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com/ (long travelogue including journey across Russia)

      --
      Oh, no! You have walked into the slavering fangs of a lurking grue!
    3. Re:Hold up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      " it could totally be worth it for the experience of seeing some of the things I have read about first hand."

      They escort you to what they want to show you, you don't get a choice.

      And just think about this: they could easily keep you and there is nothing anyone would do about it.

    4. Re:Hold up by Zaatxe · · Score: 1

      [...] got my Visa revoked and me shoved back on a plane?

      In the bet case scenario.

      --
      So say we all
  8. Re:lamp by ArcadeMan · · Score: 2

    You should love lapp instead.

    --
    Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
  9. Never underestimate the bandwidth... by istartedi · · Score: 1

    Never underestimate the bandwidth of a peasant hurled over the walls via catapult.

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    1. Re:Never underestimate the bandwidth... by kermidge · · Score: 1

      http://www.arcamax.com/thefunnies/hagarthehorrible/s-1297130 from yesterday

      I might guess your sig is to aggravate the grammar nazis but it still gives me the fingernails-on-blackboard reaction.

      "For all intents and purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That raises the question, "who cares?"

  10. I know by MonsterTrimble · · Score: 1

    That said, as with most things in North Korea, we may never know the real answer

    Magic 8 ball

    --
    I call it 'The Aristocrats'
  11. Announcing by hduff · · Score: 1

    Announcing North Korea 10G coming soon! Better than everybody!

    --
    "I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
  12. Likely they were finding citizens with cell phones by Koreantoast · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My guess is that they were finding more and more of their own citizens with "tourist" cellphones, and the idea of so many with relatively unrestricted access to the outside world was simply not worth the risk.

  13. Oblig Onion pieces... by SternisheFan · · Score: 1
    I love this TheOnion's articles take on N.K.'s .leader...

    http://www.theonion.com/articles/kim-jongun-privately-doubting-hes-crazy-enough-to,18374/

    And then this one on gay marriage...

    http://www.theonion.com/articles/kim-jongun-comes-out-in-support-of-gay-marriage-im,31821/

    This was news to me...

    http://www.theonion.com/articles/world-surrenders-to-north-korea,31265/

    I am so grateful that I wasn't born there.

    1. Re:Oblig Onion pieces... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am so grateful that I wasn't born there.

      This about sums up my thoughts about North Korea. I cannot imagine it getting much worse. Even a military coup would (almost certainly) be an improvement.

  14. Re:lamp by OakDragon · · Score: 1

    I love lamp.

    GET LAMP

    --
    Dark Reflection
  15. uh, maybe Da ISH doesn't love Dearest Leader? by swschrad · · Score: 1

    there really is no other answer, except that maybe real information can be found on Da ISH if you look long and hard enough. Nut Korea mismanagement is deathly allergic to information.

    --
    if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
  16. Re:lamp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I love lamp.

    Then go to Ikea.

  17. Give credit where due by MaxDollarCash · · Score: 1

    I'm always surprised to see these heavily embargoed countries make such technological advances be it space/defense/communications/infrastructure. Sometimes I wonder if waiting decades and playing back and forth games using diplomacy is just enabling these countries to become more and more self sufficient & self reliant. Iran got its own planes, a pretty decent navy by the looks of it, decent telecoms infrastructure and believe it or not a growing economy! Look at north korea, it can't feed its people but it can build a 3G network while being under embargo. Diplomacy is a joke.

    1. Re:Give credit where due by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Iran's navy is only decent if they don't need to actually use it against the US navy. Small gunships no matter how fast are nothing but target practice if it came to a fight. Their threats to close the gulf to halt oil shipments is wishful thinking. Not only would their navy be destroyed they would open the door for strikes on the infrastucture needed to build the navy.

    2. Re:Give credit where due by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It apparently can't build a 3G network either...

      While there is definitely a rampant hunger problem, they could atleast try, but that country is literally based on the idea that the Sopranos are in charge.

    3. Re:Give credit where due by hermitdev · · Score: 1

      Decent Navy? How do you define that? Takes 4 hours of open war to destroy it all, instead of 2? Iran has a laughable blue water navy. And, most of what they do have is confined in a very small geographical space, making it relatively easy targets. The worst threat from them may be a few diesel electric subs (and I'd be surprised if the US doesn't have tabs on them as soon as they leave port), but they are a very long ways away from any sort of force projection. Hell, the only country with a real force-projection capable navy in the World is the US. Russia and the UK have small carriers, but they're not really realistic in a large-scale conflict. Russia's biggest naval threat are their boomers, which they're not likely to use unless attacked first.

    4. Re:Give credit where due by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, the 3G network was built via an egyptian company. Though there's a lot of embargoes going around, it's not like there's a fence and blockade surrounding it. I took an interest a while back reading about the experiences of expats who live in NK. It's pretty interesting and a lot of them are different contractors from various companies

  18. critical component by kermidge · · Score: 1

    Maybe they ran out of Juche?

  19. They found out Ludicrous Speed was available... by hermitdev · · Score: 1

    ...and they couldn't settle for anything less.

  20. The fat kid did it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My bet is the fat kid was behind it. Oops, I mean "Our Dear Eternal, Life Giving, Holding the planet together with just a single thought in the last 10 years leader"(tm). The hermit kingdom is living up to its reputation.

    Sincerely, rabid stinking imperialist dog.

  21. Rifmatch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://balta.vv.si