North korea_ hyangmi & Mini (Mar 31 2011)

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Nivasone 2010462040

Hyangmi Kim 2009461014

The Internet dilemma and control policy:

political and economic implications of theInternet in North Korea ( Ko et al)

North Korea·s Internet strategy and itspolitical implications (Chen et al)



Table of Contentsy Introduction

y Literature Review

y Two authoritarian nations : Cuba & China

y

The internet in North Koreay Mosquito-Net Model

y Changes in North Korea·s Internet Policy

y Political economic implications of the Internet in North

Koreay Conclusion

y Findings



Introduction

y North Korea or DPRK

y Political: the world·s most repressive regimes

y Economics: scarce in either capital or natural resources

y The Internet: The economic benefitsy Perfect control: the stability of the regime

effective control



Literature review

Internet dilemma

Technological

Determinism Instrumentalism

Instability political

Disseminate political

propaganda and attracteconomic benefits

Reactive Proactive





Two authoritarian nations (con·t)

Cuba China

y Carefully circumscribing

accessy Restrictive to individual

access

y Free access

y Boundaries of acceptablediscourse through acombination of harshregulations, censorship,monitoring, selectivearrests and other scaretactics



Continuum of the Internet control in

authoritarian countries



The internet in North Koreay The world·s most restrictive policy on the Internet access

e.g.) No ¶kp· domain has yet been seen on the Internet.

y A nationwide network or intranet, called Kwangmyong, was builtin November 2002.

y Limited internet access of domestic and outside N. K

y Two categories of N.K·s websites :

Political propaganda : ChosunTongsin, Choson Sinbo and the Pyongyang Times

Commercial purposes: Infobank, Sili Bank, tourism sites, and lotto sites



The internet in North Korea

Mosquito-Net Model

y Set up such a ¶net· over the entire society to block theinfluence of capitalism.

Kim Jong Il suggested that the government should take strongmeasures to block the capitalists· broadcasting and publications

to prevent them from infiltrating the N.K society.

y Entails attempts to attract the inflow of foreign investmentwhile simultaneously blocking infiltrations of foreign ideas,news, and culture.

y Is reflected in the way the regime set up the ¶specialeconomic zones·.



Table 1 comparison of Internet strategies of china, Cuba, and North Korea

China Cuba North Korea

Economicobjectives

Fully capitalizing on theinternet·s economic

benefits

Economic use of theinternet limited to sectors

such as tourism to directly

generate foreign currency

Utilizing the Internet·soverall economic benefits

Perceived

major

threats

Potential domestic

dissent

Military threat from the

US

Military threat from South

Korea, the US, and Japan

Internet

control

Allowing broad

individual access while

monitoring and

censoring content

Tightly restricting

individual access

¶Mosquito-net· approach

that allows controlled access

coupled with controlled

content and surveillance

Internetpenetration

26.9%(¶09) 12.7% (¶09) N/A; extremely low

Sources: Kalathil and Boas (2001); Internet World Stats:

Usage and Population Statistics.



The internet in North Korea

yThree different strategies to control the Internet

Not allowing free personal access to the Internet but permittingNorth Korean internet users to access the internet within specific

time and limited hours, and with restricted sources and defined

ranges, and only for public benefits·

� One-Point Internet Connection Strategythe CIAST

� Single Gateway Strategythe KCC

� Comprehensive Internet ConnectionSecurity Strategy

the 6. 26 TechnologyService Centre



Changes in N.K·s Internet policyy Firstly, changes are observed in perceptions

on the Internet·s usefulness.

y

Secondly, North Korea has begun to make proactive use of the Internet, at least for domestic purposes like therationalization of bureaucratic organizations.

y Thirdly, North Korea came to under-

stand the need for ordinary people·s

knowledge of the Internet.



Political economic implications of Internet in NK

y When the top leader falters, and situations of politicaluncertainty or weakened central control arise, the intranetand the Internet in N.K might start playing a much moreunpredictable and profound political and social role than they

have been so far.

y Instrumentalism and examine the possible impacts of theInternet Opening in N.K in terms of the three factors:

Political flux

the rate of Internet penetration

Government control over the internet



Political economic implications of Internet in NK

y Dual strategy toward the Internet

External : internet-based strategy for external economic exchangeand cooperation

Internal : intranet-based strategy for enhancing the efficiency of the

planned economy through the informatization of production and management.

A shift in the Internet policy in N.K : positive signal that theeconomy is trying to integrate with the global economy

Once N.K·s leadership sees that changes caused by the Internetpositively, N.K can take proactive measures to open the Internet inspecial economic zones.



Conclusion

y North Korea hesitant to open the Internet because it bringsnegative social effects and posts a threat to the political stability of

the regime.

y Since the infrastructure of the Internet is still weak in North

Korea, it is easy for government to control Internet access.y Even if North Korea opens the Internet, its restrictive approach to

Internet will be taken.

y If North Korea is confident in external assurances, North Korea

could follow China·s Model, if not Cuba·s model. However, North

Korea·s model tend to be closer to Cuba than China

y No matter how hard the regime tires to control the internet, there

will be loopholes and ways for people to bypass censor and

surveillance.



Findings

y The affect of the Internet on political and economics

y

Internet contributes authoritarian orsocialist governments to open to the new

information era and it may finally bring

changes to the regime.

y Hope for reunification of Korea to be accomplishedthrough the Internet in the future.



Documents

North korea_ hyangmi & Mini (Mar 31 2011)