North Korea’s already limited access to the internet went black several times last week, with analysts suggesting the outages were due to cyber attacks.

As the investigation into the massive hack against Sony Pictures last month – regarded as the most damaging against a company on US soil – continues, the Federal Bureau of Investigation stands by its claim that North Korea was behind it.

We tend to view North Korea’s tight restrictions on internet access as an issue of social control, which of course it is. However, when you speak to North Koreans, raised in a garrison state, they often bring up security as the frame through which they view internet access.



And, just as North Korea had begun to experiment with broader internet access, the consequences of the hack and the attacks on North Korea’s internet connection will also undoubtedly impact on decision-making in Pyongyang.

North Korean authorities regard the country’s severely restricted online systems as an important strategic advantage over their technologically advanced enemies, with their sprawling networks of sensitive online data. As with so much in the DPRK, the closed nature of their system is a conscious choice to maintain a military advantage at the cost of economic and social freedoms.



When you speak to North Koreans, raised in a garrison state, they often bring up security as the frame through which they view internet access

Yet there have been signs of experimentation recently, and it does seem as if more and more companies and organisations have been getting online in North Korea in a limited fashion. Usually, this means they have to register in advance to be able to spend time at a terminal that is connected to the internet, and they are limited in what they can view. Organisations still tend to have a single email address for the entire staff.

There has also been growing awareness that economic success will require more access to information, something we emphasise in Choson Exchange workshops.



Red Star Linux, North Korea’s homegrown operating system, received an upgrade to 3.0 last year, mostly gaining attention for its visual similarities with Mac OSX. We’ve been told this is the most secure version yet: with each round of coding, they will probe for weaknesses and patch them or write new code for the next version. However, it is apparently still not secure enough for authorities to feel comfortable with allowing broader internet access.

If one is feeling cynical about it, one might say they never will. After all, a former North Korean IT specialist, now a South Korean professor, has been saying they are on the verge of providing broader access since 2009. He also notes that “the most serious anxiety for North Korea while preparing to connect up to the internet is the potential outflow of North Korean internal information,” rather than harmful inflows.



If one is feeling less cynical, one could hope that Chinese encouragement might someday pay off. China’s quiet and long suffering attempt to get North Korea to more closely imitate its model has been occurring at both the working day-to-day level of businesspeople and traders, as well as the highest levels of officialdom.



The Chinese government feels it has amply demonstrated that agenda setting, careful censorship and flexibility in the official narrative can mollify the threats posed by information flowing in from outside the country.



If Pyongyang wanted to open up, the authorities could allow more access, even if it is under a more intense system of restriction than the Chinese currently use.

Most people living in Pyongyang know that the internet exists, and they know everyone else in the world has it

Yet for Pyongyang, its appears the certainty of the advantages of its closed systems is currently a far greater comfort than the uncertain returns of broader connectivity. And the Sony affair – specifically the reprisals that will come either from states or hacktivists – will likely discourage Pyongyang from taking risks.

Right now, most people living in Pyongyang know that the internet exists, and they know everyone else in the world has it. They know that it is something of a big deal even if they don’t quite grasp just how pervasive and integrated it is in people’s professional and personal lives.

A handful of decision-makers do know, however, and they also know that it is a military and social control security risk. As long as they see access and security strictly as two sides of a zero-sum coin, you can guess which side they’ll choose.

Andray Abrahamian is executive director of Choson Exchange, which runs workshops teaching North Koreans business skills