North Korea Inadvertently Reveals That It Only Has 28 Websites

I hope someone doesn’t get into too much trouble over this. A U.S. engineer has reportedly unveiled the full extent of North Korea’s internet ecosystem. In total, there are only about 28 websites serving the 24 million some-odd denizens of the Hermit Kingdom, aka the last surviving Stalinist dictatorship in the world.

How did this big North Korean slip-up occur? Apparently, the aforementioned engineer had been in the habit of frequently sending automated requests to North Korea’s primary Domain Name System server (read: this guy probably trolls North Korea during his free time). While the server usually rejects such requests, it obliged the request last Tuesday, probably by accident.

The leak actually did not reveal anything new to North Korea experts, except an idea of the scope of the North Korean internet.

“When North Korea brings up a new website they never publicize it. Either someone finds it by accident or it might show up in a search engine,” said Martyn Williams, a North Korea watcher, to the BBC. “We knew about most of these, but weren’t sure what else existed”.

Many of these websites are in Korean, as one would expect, and feature tourist information, a portal for purchasing Air Koryo tickets (PSA: the State Department advises people not to go to North Korea because they have gulags and are not afraid to use them), and state-run propaganda outlets such as the country’s main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun.

Other sites provide outsiders a peek into the reclusive nation’s culture. One website, cooks.org.kp, interestingly features a bunch of recipes for North Korean cuisine while another highlights the works of North Korea’s film industry and upcoming Pyongyang International Film Festival.

The websites aren’t very well designed and take a while to load, if they ever do, because North Korea’s internet is so finicky. Not exactly the most riveting material, but staving off boredom is likely the least of the average North Korean’s worries.