The North Korean government maintains strict control over all media and information sources. It operates an isolated domestic intranet called "Kwangmyong" with approximately 30 approved websites. Access to Kwangmyong is limited to select government institutions, schools, factories and a small number of businesses and individuals. For ordinary citizens, internet access is effectively inaccessible due to high costs. The government allocates resources only in support of its ideology and closely monitors all user conduct online to further its agenda and promote its leader, Kim Jong II.

1. Internet Filtering:
North Korea
Jonathan Shirshekan
Ethics of Cyberspace
Spring I 2010

2. North Korea: Background
Government: Communist
state one-man dictatorship
Population: 22,665,345
Literacy Rate: 99%
Source: CIA World Fact Book. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kn.html

3. Information and Communication
Print and Broadcast Media Tightly Regulated by North
Korean Regime
Aimed at Promoting Its Ideology, Furthering Its Agenda,
& Acclaiming Its Leader (Kim Jong II)
No Independent Media Outlets
Legally Prohibited Access to Any Non-Governmental
Television or Radio Stations

4. Information and Communication
Legal Cellular Phone Access Limited to Nation’s Capital*
Some Illegally Smuggle Phones in From China (Allows for
Chinese Internet Access)
“Inadequate” Landline Accessibility*
*Source: CIA World Fact Book. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kn.html

5. Internet and Intranet
Almost All Internet Users are Elites or Foreigners
A Select Few Have Unrestricted Access (i.e. Members of
Kim Jung II’s Inner Circle)
Cost of Internet Usage Effectively Excludes Most Citizens
No Top-Level Domain (TLD)
Servers in China, Japan, German and US Utilized to Host
Its Official Pages

6. Internet and Intranet
Government Maintains an Isolated, Domestic Intranet
Intranet is Called “Kwangmyong”
Comprised of Approximately 30 Websites
Content Approved By or Created By Regime
User Conduct Monitored by Government

7. Internet and Intranet
Kwangmyong Access Granted to Select:
Research Institutions
Schools
Factories
Governmental Ministries
Small Number of Businesses and Individuals

8. Internet and Intranet
Government Imposes Costs (Some as High as 7x to 8x the
Average Monthly Salary) to Deter Ordinary Citizens from
Accessing the Intranet

9. Summary
Government Maintains Strict Control Over Media
Government Allocates Resources Only in Support of Its
Ideology
For Ordinary Citizen, Internet Is Inaccessible. For Some
Ordinary Citizens, Only Form of Access is Regimes’s Intranet
Despite North Korea’s Constitutional Guarantee to Freedom
of Speech and of the Press, There is No Legal Challenge to
Such Pervasive Control Over Online Access and Content

10. Sources
Except Where Noted, All Information from “Access Denied”
Edited By Deibert, Palfrey, et al.