By Dave Lee Technology reporter; © BBC News - Original Article
What is it
like to surf the internet in the most secretive country on Earth? The short
answer is - strange, at least by the rest of the world's standards. But as
North Koreans begin to put their lives at risk just to connect to the outside
world, it could mark a dramatic moment in the country's history.
There's a
curious quirk on every official North Korean website. A piece of programming
that must be included in each page's code.
Its function
is straightforward but important. Whenever leader Kim Jong-un is mentioned, his
name is automatically displayed ever so slightly bigger than the text around
it. Not by much, but just enough to make it stand out.
It's just
one facet of the "internet" in North Korea, a uniquely fascinating
place.
In a country
where citizens are intentionally starved of any information other than
government propaganda, the internet too is dictated by the needs of the state -
but there is an increasing belief that this control is beginning to wane.
"The
government can no longer monitor all communications in the country, which it
could do before," explains Scott Thomas Bruce, an expert on North Korea
who has written extensively about the country.
"That
is a very significant development."
There's just
one cybercafe in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang.
Anyone
logging on at the cafe would find themselves at a computer that isn't running
Windows, but instead Red Star - North Korea's own custom-built operating
system, reportedly commissioned by the late Kim Jong-il himself.
A
pre-installed readme file explains how important it is that the operating
system correlates with the country's values.
Computers in North Korea run Red Star, a customised operating system.
The
computer's calendar does not read 2012, but 101 - the number of years since the
birth of Kim Il-sung, the country's former leader whose political theories
define policy decisions.
Normal
citizens do not get access to the "internet". That privilege is left
to a select number in the country, known as elites, as well as some academics
and scientists.
What they
see is an internet that is so narrow and lacking in depth it resembles more an
extravagant company intranet than the expansive global network those outside
the country know it to be.
In a country
where citizens are intentionally starved of any information other than
government propaganda, the internet too is dictated by the needs of the state -
but there is an increasing belief that this control is beginning to wane.
"The
government can no longer monitor all communications in the country, which it
could do before," explains Scott Thomas Bruce, an expert on North Korea
who has written extensively about the country.
"That
is a very significant development."
"The
system they've set up is one that they can control and tear down if
necessary," explains Mr Bruce.
The system
is called Kwangmyong, and is administered by the country's lone, state-run
internet service provider.
According to
Mr Bruce, it consists mainly of "message boards, chat functions, and state
sponsored media". Unsurprisingly, there's no sign of Twitter.
"For a
lot of authoritarian governments who are looking at what is happening in the
Middle East," says Mr Bruce, "they're saying rather than let in
Facebook, and rather than let in Twitter, what if the government created a
Facebook that we could monitor and control?"
The Red Star
operating system runs an adapted version of the Firefox browser, named Naenara,
a title it shares with the country's online portal, which also has an English
version.
Typical
sites include news services - such as the Voice of Korea - and the official
organ of the state, the Rodong Sinmun.
But anyone
producing content for this "internet" must be careful.
Reporters
Without Borders - an organisation which monitors global press freedom - said
some North Korean "journalists" had found themselves sent to
"revolutionisation" camps, simply for a typo in their articles.
Beyond the
Kwangmyong intranet, some North Koreans do have full, unfiltered internet
access.
However, it
is believed this is restricted to just a few dozen families - most directly
related to Kim Jong-un himself.
North
Korea's reluctance to connect citizens to the web is counteracted by an
acceptance that, as with trade, it needs to open itself up slightly if it is to
continue to survive.
While China
has its infamous "great firewall" - which blocks out the likes of
Twitter and, from time to time the BBC website - North Korea's technology
infrastructure is described as a "mosquito net", allowing only the
bare essentials both in and out.
And it's
with mobile that the mosquito net is most porous.
Sanctioned North Korean websites typically contain
news - and are also available in English
While there
is an official mobile network, which does not offer data connections or
international calls, North Koreans are increasingly getting hold of Chinese
mobile phones, smuggled across the border.
The handsets
generally work within about 10km (6 miles) of the border between the two
countries - but not without considerable danger.
"The
level of risk that people are taking now would be unthinkable 20 years
ago," says Nat Kretchun, co-author of a groundbreaking report into the
changing media environment in North Korea.
The paper,
entitled A Quiet Opening, interviewed 420 adults who had
defected from the country. Among their stories was a glimpse at the lengths
people would go to use these illegal mobile phones.
"In
order to make sure the mobile phone frequencies are not being tracked, I would
fill up a washbasin with water and put the lid of a rice cooker over my head
while I made a phone call," said one interviewee, a 28-year-old man who
left the country in November 2010.
North Korea's mobile service offers 3G connection
speeds - but no internet
"I
don't know if it worked or not, but I was never caught."
While the
man's scientific methodology is questionable, his fear was certainly warranted.
"Possession
of illegal cellphones is a very major crime," explains Mr Bruce.
"The
government has actually bought sensor equipment to try and track down people
who are using them.
"If you
use them, you want to use them in a highly populated area, and you want to be
using them for a short amount of time."
During his
leadership, Kim Jong-il would parade hundreds of tanks through the streets to
show himself as a "military genius".
Many
observers say that his son, Kim Jong-un, must in contrast show himself to have
an astute technological mind, bringing hi-tech enhancements to the lives of his
citizens.
But each
step on this path brings the people of North Korea something they've not had
before - honest information, which can have a devastating effect on secretive
nations.
"I
don't see an open door towards an Arab Spring coming that way any time
soon," Mr Bruce says.
"But I
do think that people are now expecting to have access to this technology - and
that creates an environment of personal expectation that cannot be easily
rolled back."
With thanks
to Flickr user comradeanatollii for the image of Red Star OS.
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