North Korea

Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Type	Isolated country in East Asia
Founded	September 2, 1945
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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (조선민주주의인민공화국, Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk) or DRPK, known outside of the country as North Korea, is an isolated country in East Asia that constitutes the northern half of the Korean peninsula.

It is ostensibly democratic and communist, but there are no free elections and the government only provides for its most prominent citizens. Its systemic human rights violations were condemned by one hundred nineteen countries in a United Nations vote on December 17, 2015, with only nineteen countries voting against the resolution.

Japan ruled Korea from 1910 until it surrendered at the end of World War II in 1945. Korea was divided into two zones along the 38th parallel on September 2, 1945. The Soviet Union occupied the north, while the United States of America occupied the south.

Negotiations for reunification failed, so two governments were formed in 1948. North Korea was aligned with the communism of the Eastern Bloc, while South Korea was aligned with the capitalism of the Eastern Bloc. North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950, starting the Korean War. A ceasefire occurred on July 27, 1953, but no peace treaty was ever signed.

Entrance into North Korea is rarely allowed, and the foreigners who are allowed are only permitted to visit state-approved areas and must always be accompanied by a state handler. In addition, emigration is prohibited and information is tightly guarded. Thus, not much information is known to people outside of the country regarding its computing technology.

With the exception of North Korean state-run state-run television and printed news propaganda, most information that is known has been provided by a few foreigners who were allowed to enter the country, refugees fleeing the country, hackers, and South Korean intelligence.

North Korean consumer computing

The Korea Computer Center (조선콤퓨터중심, Chosŏn Kompyuteo Ssenteo), the North Korean information technology research center, was founded in Pyongyang on October 24, 1990.

Bright Light intranet network

North Korea has a nationwide walled intranet service which is known as Bright Light (광명, Kwangmyong). The Central Information Agency for Science and Technology (중앙과학기술통보사, Chungang Kwahak Kisul Tongbosa) launched it at some point from 1997 to the early 2000s. Between one thousand to five thousand five hundred websites are available on the Bright Light intranet network.

Video games

In 1999, the Korea Computer Center released Korea Janggi (조선 장기', Chosŏn Janggi). It is a computer game version of Janggi, a traditional Korean board game.

In 2007, Nosotek, the first Western-invested information technology company, was founded as a joint venture between the North Korean General Federation of Science and Technology (조선과학기술총연맹, Chosŏn Gwahag-Gisul Chong Yeonmaeng), Felix Abt, and Volker Eloesser.

Nosotek co-developed the 2007 feature phone game Men in Black: Alien Assault and the 2008 feature phone game The Big Lebowski Bowling according to two Nosotek executives interviewed by Bloomberg.

Red Star operating system

Red Star (붉은별, Pulgunbyol) is an operating system based on the Linux distribution Fedora. The first release of Red Star was in 2008.

Prior to its release, some computers in North Korea ran on Red Hat Linux. Some computers in North Korea used Windows XP at Kim Il Sung University as late as 2018.

Star Joint Venture Internet network

In 2010, the global internet became available in North Korea through a link by a Chinese telecom provider. China Netcom provided the sole link to the global internet for North Korea until 2012.

On April 5, 2012, the Star Joint Venture (별합영회사, Byeol Hab-Yeong Hoesa) was created between the North Korean government and a Thai internet service provider. Loxley Pacific linked the North Korean internet network to the Luxembourg-owned and United States-operated satellite communications provider Intelsat.

Netbook computer

On March 10, 2011, Korean Central Television, the state-run North Korean television station, revealed a factory where netbook computers were being manufactured by hand by North Korean workers. The computers were actually rebranded Sylvania SYNET7WID netbooks.

My Nation web browser

My Nation (내나라, Naenara) is a web browser based on Firefox. It was released in 2012, as part of Red Star OS 3.0.

Prior versions of Red Star OS were bundled with Firefox.

Pyongyang Racer

In 2012, Pyongyang Racer, a Flash web browser game advertising North Korean tourism through Koryo Tours, was released. It was developed by Nosotek in conjunction with students from the Kim Chaek University of Technology.

WIPO sold HP computers to North Korea and Iran in violation of export laws

A 2012 United States House of Representatives committee investigation found that the World Intellectual Property Organization sold Hewlett Packard computers to North Korea and Iran in violation of export laws, as well as in violation of a ban on exports to those countries by the manufacturer.

On January 8, 2015, the executive chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, and the former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson visited Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang where students were using old HP Pavilion Elite desktop computers. The computers ran Windows XP Professional and the students could use the worldwide internet as well as the Google search engine.

On April 13, 2015, Bloomberg reported that a whistleblower at the United Nations told the then-U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, that the United Nations ignored complaints for years prior to the 2012 House investigation and that he experienced retaliation over raising those complaints.

Wireless data service

An outdoor wireless data service in Pyongyang known as Future (미래, Mirai) was revealed on Korean Central Television on October 21, 2018. Based on Wi-Fi, it allows connection to the North Korean walled intranet by feature phones. However, unlike most Wi-Fi services, it requires a SIM card for access.

Peony Peak console

On September 10, 2019, the North Korean website Arirang Meari revealed the Peony Peak (모란봉, Moranbong). It is a video game console that has motion controllers similar to the Wii and a movement-tracking camera similar to the Kinect. This console is a rebranded version of the Android-based Chinese console G80, which is manufactured by Xiǎo Bàwáng and released under the Subor and Cdragon Cassidy labels.

North Korean cyberwarfare

Bureau 121

Bureau 121 was a North Korean cyberwarfare agency that was the main unit of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, or RGB. It was founded in 1998. According to Mandiant, a company that specializes in global cyber defense, Bureau 121 was likely reorganized and expanded into Lab 110.

Lab 110

Lab 110, is a North Korean cyberwarfare agency that is the main unit of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, or RGB. It is likely a reorganized and expanded Bureau 121 that was founded at some point prior to July 2009. It has satellite offices in Chinese cities that are near the North Korean border.

414 Liaison Office

A prominent hacking agency is known as the 414 Liason Office according to Kim Kuk-Song, a North Korean spy that defected from the country. It is also known as the Lazarus Group, Guardians of Peace, and the Whois Team. The United States Intelligence Community refers to it as Hidden Cobra and Microsoft refers to it as Zinc. It is a North Korean agency that is part of Lab 110. Like Lab 110, it was founded at some point prior to July 2009.

In 2009, distributed denial-of-service attacks against U.S. and South Korean government telecommunications services were led by the Lab 110 unit of the RGB.

The first attack began on the fourth of July, which is Independence Day in the U.S. It affected American websites including the White House, the Pentagon, the New York Stock Exchange, the Washington Post, the NASDAQ, and Amazon.

The second attack began on the seventh of July and affected South Korean websites including the Blue House, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, the National Intelligence Service, and the National Assembly.

The final attack affected both U.S. and South Korean websites including the South Korean National Intelligence Service, one of the largest South Korean banks, a major South Korean news agency, and the U.S. State Department.