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North Korea Celebrates 65th Anniversary by Opening up the Internet

by Amar Toor on October 11, 2010 at 08:32 AM

north korea anniversary
In the U.S., most Americans celebrate national anniversaries with fireworks and barbecues. North Koreans, on the other hand, are celebrating their ruling party's 65th birthday with something way more exciting: the Internet.

According to IDG News, the hermetic communist country has reportedly made its first online connection with the outside world in celebration of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea's 65th anniversary. The website, which occupies one of the 1,024 Web addresses reserved by North Korea, is apparently operated by the Korea Central News Agency, and features regularly updated news stories and photos. The site was unveiled to foreign journalists on Sunday, ahead of the country's celebratory military parade.

Journalists covering the event were also treated to another luxury at the Koryo Hotel in capital caity Pyongyang: full access to the Internet. Usually, reporters can only make phone calls or send e-mails with specific computers. On Sunday, though, members of the media were given unfettered access to the Web, in a surprising change of North Korea's regulatory policy. It remains to be seen, of course, whether Sunday's online opening is a sign of things to come, or simply a temporary gesture for the international media. Given the country's history of iron-fisted Internet regulation, we're more inclined to go with the latter.

Tags: anniversary, censorship, control, government, Internet, internetaccess, KimJongIl, media, NorthKorea, politics, Pyongyang, top, Web

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