Website Offers Email Links to N. Korea
A website is offering the first commercial e-mail link to North Korea, which has virtually shut out the world of the Internet. Silibank.com, a company based in Shenyang in northeast China, and supported by the North Korean government, said it installed server computers in the city and in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, in early October and is running an experimental email service.

The service is limited for now to only those who want to exchange emails with North Korean trade companies, government agencies or other official organizations. Email service for ordinary North Korean citizens is being discussed with authorities in Pyongyang, a Silibank.com official in Shenyang said in a telephone interview. He declined to be named. North Korea's Stalinist regime keeps a tight lid on its hunger-stricken 22 million people to shield them from outside influence..//..

Foreign visitors can link their computers to the Internet only through international phone lines available only in a few hotels in Pyongyang. Silibak.com said it has only 10 subscribers so far for its service, which is exorbitant by international standards. According to its price table, most text emails can be sent for $1.5-2. But sending a photograph of 8 megabits, for example, costs $300.

The company is offering free service for the first 100 subscribers for the next six months. During the experimental phase, Silibank.com will transmit emails in and out of North Korea only once every hour..//..

South Korea encourages economic and cultural exchanges with North Korea following their historic summit last year. But it remains illegal for South Koreans to exchange emails and letters with North Koreans without government permission. In August, prosecutors arrested six South Korean activists on charges of exchanging unauthorized emails with North Korean officials.

Source: The NYT-AP, November 1, 2001 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/ AP-NKorea-Internet.html
Via IEKAS 01-37 (No. 231) November 9, 2001 [ED. The domain name for North Korea is 'kp,' but it has been closed to the world. A small crack in the cyberwall?]