North Korea Tech is a US-based

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

authored by British journalist Martyn Williams which covers

consumer electronics Consumer electronics or home electronics are electronic (analog or digital) equipment intended for everyday use, typically in private homes. Consumer electronics include devices used for entertainment, communications and recreation. Usually r ...

and technology developments in the

Democratic People's Republic of Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...

. It was established in 2010. North Korea Tech is based in

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. The site is affiliated with ''

38 North ''38 North'' is a website devoted to analysis about North Korea. Its name refers to the 38th parallel north which passes through the Korean peninsula and from 1945 until the start of the Korean War in 1950 divided the peninsula into North and Sou ...

''. According to Williams, he was inspired to start the blog after a 15-year stint as a

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

-based correspondent for

IDG News Service International Data Group (IDG, Inc.) is a market intelligence and demand generation company focused on the technology industry. IDG, Inc.’s mission is centered around supporting the technology industry through research, data, marketing technol ...

during which he observed the growing "wealth, knowledge and prosperity gap between North and South Korea." About his interest in the country, he said "North Korea appears today an even more difficult country to understand than the USSR ever was, thus my interest as a journalist." As of 2016, the website received about 20,000 visits a month. The site has covered North Korean cell phones, satellites, internet domains,

operating systems An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also inc ...

, missile technology, and

online TV Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

services. North Korea Tech has often been cited by international media, government reports, and academics researching North Korea. This has included coverage by

Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, D.C ...

, ''

Vice Magazine ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media, ...

'', and

TechCrunch TechCrunch is an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare. In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately ...

. It has also been cited by South Korean media, such as

Yonhap Yonhap News Agency is a major South Korean news agency. It is based in Seoul, South Korea. Yonhap provides news articles, pictures and other information to newspapers, TV networks and other media in South Korea. History Yonhap (, , translit. ' ...

and

The Dong-A Ilbo The ''Dong-A Ilbo'' (, literally ''East Asia Daily'') is a newspaper of record in Korea since 1920 with a daily circulation of more than 1.2 million and opinion leaders as its main readers. ''The Dong-A Ilbo'' is the parent company of Dong-A M ...

. North Korea Tech was the victim of a

DDoS In computing, a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) is a cyber-attack in which the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host A ...

attack in early 2016. On March 24, 2016, the site was censored in South Korea by the

Korea Communications Standards Commission The Korea Communications Standards Commission () is an institution of the South Korean government that regulates communications including film, television, radio, and internet. At its formation in 2008, the KCSC replaced an earlier body, the In ...

(KCSC) due to alleged violations of South Korea's National Security Act, a law which bans "praising, sympathizing or cooperating with North Korea". Williams appealed the ban, saying the site "doesn't seek to glorify or support North Korea". The KCSC said that the site was blocked due to linking to North Korean websites and posting videos of North Korean state media.

Jillian York Jillian C. York (born May 18, 1982)"Goodreads Author Profile"
Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...

stated that "The blocking of North Korea Tech is, on face, an overbroad application of a law that in itself is in direct contrast to the principle of freedom of expression". Phil Robertson of

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

Asia called the block "harmful to rights and counter-productive". An appeal of the ban was successful in 2017 with legal assistance from Open Net Korea.

References

External links

* Technology blogs Science and technology in North Korea {{Website-stub