back to article Russian telco backs up North Korea's sole Internet link

North Korea's very limited Internet has, for the second time in its brief history, obtained a redundant connection to the outside world. Dyn Research and North Korea specialists 38 North went public with the existence of the new link on October 1. Dyn's Doug Madory and 38 North's Martyn Williams spotted route announcements …

  1. defiler

    Very helpful of the Russians

    But at the same time, you can bet they'll be logging every packet going down that wire. If I had North Korea on my doorstep I'd want to know exactly who's speaking to them.

    Friends close and all that.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Counterproductive..

    Wouldn't it be better to try to get all of the Norks online so they can see what the world is actually like?

    Chuck thousands of Pi's over the fence or something?

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Devil

      Re: Counterproductive..

      North Korean official propaganda is apparently that although North Korea ain't exactly paradise, full of booming economic goodness and consumer yummies, the rest of the world is a howling void of chaos, poverty and exploitation by evil capitalist overlords.

      So the last thing we need to do to break that propaganda is to allow the North Korean people access to The Register's forums...

      And if they ever see the comments on Youtube, they'll probably feel totally justified in nuking us!

      1. Teiwaz

        Re: Counterproductive..

        And if they ever see the comments on Youtube, they'll probably feel totally justified in nuking us!

        Damn straight, Every time I see Youtube comments I feel like going all 12 Monkeys.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Comments?

          and no mention of that other 'Dear Leader' who tweets to the world his contradictory thoughts...

          Thankfully, I refuse to listen to the rantings of both deluded leaders. There is sod all I can do about it if one of them decides to go Nuke so why worry about it... Just get on with life and enjoy it while you can coz after JC becomes PM none of us will have anything to smile about.

          1. alain williams Silver badge

            Re: Comments?

            Will JC or BOJO be the next PM ?

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Comments?

              Will JC or BOJO be the next PM ?

              Well JC seems well entrenched with Momentum's Gestapo brigades making sure his position can't be challenged from within, whereas BOJO seems to be working hard to ensure that he demonstrates in the round his total unsuitability for anything other than after dinner speaking.

              The last thing the Conservative party need is another clueless, out-of-touch, rich Etonian twat, but Paddy Power are offering 4:1 for BOJO, against (roughly) 8:1 for Davis, Hammond, Rudd and Rees Mogg.(although personally I think Rees Mogg's shot himself in the foot over his personal beliefs that are reactionary even by Tory party standards)..

              1. PNGuinn
                Childcatcher

                Re: Comments?

                "BOJO seems to be working hard to ensure that he demonstrates in the round his total unsuitability for anything other than after dinner speaking."

                You are BOJO and I claim my 5Urox.

          2. Arthur the cat Silver badge

            Re: Comments?

            and no mention of that other 'Dear Leader' who tweets to the world his contradictory thoughts...

            A thought occurs to me - has anyone tried feeding Trump's tweets to something like Eliza (or Parry)?

          3. PNGuinn
            Devil

            Dear Leader ....

            Oh well, that's blighty safe then.

            Our Dear Leader probably doesn't know which side of the Internet is up.

    2. Peter2 Silver badge

      Re: Counterproductive..

      Not sure you could do much with a Pi where sole internet access is via a state ISP with one (now two) connections to the wider world. Even if the locals could figure out what to do with them the government almost certainly has firewalls preventing access to pretty much everything.

      If we were going to chuck things over the fence huge quantities of food and good booze would probably be more readily appreciated.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Counterproductive..

        Preloaded and configured with mesh networking might be interesting though

        1. Mr Sceptical
          Thumb Up

          Re: Counterproductive..

          Exactly my thoughts!

          A rain of Pi's with LCD display and solar charging kit all in one might change the nation.

          Alternatively, even some LW radios (+headphones to avoid the giveway sound) might do the job.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Counterproductive..

            Cheaper, easier and probably more effective to drop pamphlets, which I believe has been done.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Counterproductive..

              > "Cheaper, easier and probably more effective to drop pamphlets, which I believe has been done."

              Pamphlets are pamphlets, t'internet shows you the world as it really is.

          2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

            Re: Counterproductive..

            Alternatively, even some LW radios (+headphones to avoid the giveway sound) might do the job.

            Good idea that man! Get them all listening to Test Match Special. The civilising power of cricket.

            It's a shame that Henry Blofeld has retired, as I'm sure he's the perfect man to talk anyone round after a lifetime of a dictatorship's brain-washing.

            Although, as they don't have access to the internet (or even Wisden), we could just play them old recordings. So they could hear Johnners and Arlott. Admittedly there'd be some Fred Trueman to add a bit of dour Yorkshire misery, but you can't have everything.

      2. Trigonoceps occipitalis

        Re: Counterproductive..

        Why not try Trevor Baylis wind up radios and a high powered BBC World Service tx?

      3. Jamie Jones Silver badge

        Re: Counterproductive..

        1) Most North Koreans realise the propaganda they are fed is a load of crap. https://www.quora.com/Do-North-Koreans-believe-the-propaganda-the-government-tells-them-or-do-they-just-pretend-to/answer/Jieun-Baek

        2) They already get food aid from the USA. North Korea spins it as the great leader has so much power, he's forced the evil enemy into providing for them. https://www.pri.org/stories/2011-02-12/does-north-korea-deserve-aid

  3. Nick Z

    This is a political decision, rather than a commercial one

    The TransTelekom company is a subsidiary of the Russian Railways company.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransTelekom

    And the owner of the Russian Railways company is the Russian Government.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Railways

    Both China and Russia don't want to establish a precedent by letting North Korea have nuclear weapons. Because then Ukraine and Taiwan might want to get nuclear weapons too.

    But they also don't want USA and its allies to take over North Korea and surround them both even more in military terms. That's why they will only go half-way against North Korea. And they'll do whatever it takes to help North Korea survive.

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: This is a political decision, rather than a commercial one

      "establish a precedent by letting North Korea have nuclear weapons."

      They may be a bit late to that party.

  4. wyatt

    Limited bandwidth means they won't patch anything then..

  5. nsld

    Headline is wrong

    Shouldnt it be,

    'Glorious Leader increases the worlds access to the glorious North Korean Internet' ?

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: Headline is wrong

      The North Korean version of Facebook is much better. Nobody's allowed to post anything, on pain of death - and Mark Zuckerberg has been sent to the gulag.

  6. Christian Berger

    There are some details on Internet in North Korea

    They have an internal net which uses private IP-Adresses instead of DNS because, obviously, they are easier to remember than some latin transliteration.

    There's Internet for foreign professors which are invited into the country, but it's unclear who else gets access to it.

    There's actually a talk about it:

    https://media.ccc.de/v/31c3_-_6253_-_en_-_saal_2_-_201412292115_-_computer_science_in_the_dprk_-_will_scott

    BTW, has anybody heard the news that Li Jong-nui succeeds Kim Jong-un?

    http://www.der-postillon.com/2017/10/li-jong-nui.html

    1. Jamie Jones Silver badge

      Re: There are some details on Internet in North Korea

      Hmmm, I guess the "humour" of that article was lost in translation...

    2. JaitcH
      Meh

      Re: There are some details on Internet in North Korea

      As a periodic Foreign Guest Worker in the DPRK I work in 'high tech' areas.

      The 'internal' InterNet is just for lower class people who are wealthy enough to own computers. There are no external links. Guaranteed.

      The 'external' access to the InterNet as we know it is tightly controlled, slow and seemingly monitored by live bodies rather than just computers. There are computers in the facilities where I work which have external InterNet connection but access is controlled by the head of the facility and a 'political officer' along with many locks and keys.

      Long-time FGW (Foreign Guest Workers) have dual SIM cell handsets that allow connection to either the internal cell network or to the Foreign Tourist network that permits international calls as well as calls to other Foreigners in the country. Areas close to the Chinese border (defined by a river) can get illegal but spotty access to Chinese networks (using Chinese SIMs).

      A few FGW have skysat telephone units which have been inveigled in and are used extremely discretely! The customs guys look for the distinctive antennae which, fortunately, can be removed.

  7. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

    "Also unknown is why Transtelecom put itself in the firing line by doing business with North Korea at such a sensitive time."

    I strongly suppose they were asked to do so by the Kremlin. Asked as in tasked.

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