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China-Japan-Koreas |
North Korea restricting outside telephone lines |
2005-06-11 |
SEOUL: North Korea has blocked most of its international telephone lines in order to restrict the exchange of information with the outside world, according to South Korean government sources. Earlier this week a South Korean newspaper said the isolated Stalinist regime had shut down 90 percent of its outside phone lines since April and confiscated some 20,000 mobile telephones since May last year. The source confirmed to reporters that "most of the country's international telephone service appears to be controlled" and that "there appear to be restrictions on the use of mobile phones in North Korea from mid-2004". The use of cellphones, which were only introduced to North Korea in 2002, and of the Internet had been seriously restricted by a regime that worries about losing its hold on information and fears a possible US attack. The JoongAng daily reported on Tuesday that North Korea had restricted domestic communications and blocked 90 percent of its 970 international lines since April under a direct order from its leader Kim Jong-Il. |
Posted by:Fred |
#9 Didn't pay last month's bill eh? |
Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-06-11 18:29 |
#8 Maybe they're eating the phones? |
Posted by: tu3031 2005-06-11 18:05 |
#7 how are the Famed NK Hackers™ gonna access their AOL accounts? |
Posted by: Frank G 2005-06-11 12:18 |
#6 First they starve everybody, then they cut off phone service. Hopefully they won't remove Disney Channel from the basic cable plan. Think about it. Only the party probably had telephones to begin with. Cutting off party members access to internet porn will only hasten the coup. |
Posted by: Super Hose 2005-06-11 11:38 |
#5 Lil' Kimmie's gettin' nervous, I'd say. |
Posted by: mojo 2005-06-11 01:12 |
#4 Too many calls for Chinese take-out? |
Posted by: PBMcL 2005-06-11 00:54 |
#3 Funny, just gotta call from Kimmy |
Posted by: Captain America 2005-06-11 00:37 |
#2 Also handy to keep any reports of internal unrest from leaking out. |
Posted by: Fred 2005-06-11 00:20 |
#1 Sounds like they are just trying to show off the fact that they operate telephones at all. |
Posted by: JAB 2005-06-11 00:17 |