Slashdot Mirror
North Korea Halts 3G Internet Access After One Month
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."
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.
This article doesn't have a pop-up ad.
Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
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..
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.
You should love lapp instead.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
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.
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!
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"?
That said, as with most things in North Korea, we may never know the real answer
Magic 8 ball
I call it 'The Aristocrats'
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
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.
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.
I love lamp.
GET LAMP
Dark Reflection
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?
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.
Maybe they ran out of Juche?
...and they couldn't settle for anything less.
[...] got my Visa revoked and me shoved back on a plane?
In the bet case scenario.
So say we all
What is the RNK? Do you mean DPRK?