After a day and a half of hearing about data, big data and any other form of the word, and how data is going to revolutionise everything, it was really interesting to attend a session on North Korea. Jean Lee is a US journalist for AP based in Seoul but has regularly visited North Korea.
Lee said that things in North Korea ARE changing, but extremely slowly.
North Korea is still extremely strict in what they allow foreigners to see, an example of this is blackened windows on the ‘tour’ bus on a predetermined route. And if you did manage to sneak a peek out the window, the road has military on the side of the road looking to make sure you don’t take photos along the way.
Previously, management of foreign press was so strict Lee was also required to check her iPhone in at the airport when visiting the country, essentially reduced to pen and paper and the 1950s telephone in the hotel. I guess that’s the downside of writing ‘iPhone’ on the back.
So what technology and communication options do the North Koreans have?
North Korea has recently ramped up its 3G network, allowing reporters to tweet and use Instagram. According to Lee, only about 1 million people have ‘working’ mobile phones and they use it exactly the same as everyone else in the world. However, it is limited to the elite as its very expensive.
She also said that regular North Koreans, and then mainly only in Pyongyang, do not have access to the global internet and on the flipside, foreigners don’t have access to the North Korean ‘intranet’. It is illegal to tweet any North Korean content or follow any North Korean people. Social networking, like Facebook, doesn’t really exist and is essentially in the form of Message Boards.
Matt Joyce
Chief innovation officer
TMS