In a move that makes it
harder for North Koreans to gain illicit access to the global Internet,
North Korea now only allows mobile phone SIM cards used by tourists to
be active for the duration of their visit, tourism sources told Reuters.
Unlike North Koreans, foreigners visiting
the isolated country can freely browse social media sites such as
Facebook and Twitter using the Koryolink domestic network.
Under a change made in July, North Korea
deactivates the card when a visitor leaves, ensuring that it can not be
left for use by a resident, the sources said. It can be reactivated when
a visitor returns to the country. “This basically means in practical
terms that if someone leaves the country they can’t simply leave their
phone with a local friend and have them use the Internet,” said one
source, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of
discussing such issues when working in North Korea.
The move could be linked to a broader
crackdown on the exchange of information in North Korea, and according
to the source appeared to have been government-led.
More than 2.5 million North Koreans use
the Koryolink network to make calls and browse an internal, heavily
monitored domestic Internet. Foreigners can use the network too – but on
a separate cell network that connects to the regular outside Internet.
It was not clear if the new rule applied to contracts held by long-term
residents or foreign diplomats.
Information in repressive North Korea is
tightly controlled but small storage devices like USB sticks or micro SD
cards have become popular in recent years for discretely sharing
uncensored information such as videos, games, music and ebooks.
SIM cards used in phones to access mobile
networks are also easily concealed, and experts say the new policy
could be linked to a wider crackdown.
Sokeel Park of LiNK, an NGO that works
with North Korean defectors, said Pyongyang has stepped-up control of
information flows under Kim Jong Un, who came to power in late 2011 when
his father Kim Jong Il died. Park was referring to a widespread
crackdown on illegal foreign media and smuggled Chinese cell phones that
are often used to make international calls from areas in North Korea
within range of Chinese cell towers along the border with China.
“It would make sense to close a loophole
that might have seen some foreigners lend their SIM cards to North
Koreans while they were away, since international phone calls and 3G
access to the global internet are a big breach of their information
blockade with the outside world,” said Park.
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