North Korea is infamous for the level of control the government exerts over its citizens. When it comes to censorship, the DPRK is number one with a bullet. The restrictions imposed on its citizens are staggering, and most of the country is actually disallowed from accessing the internet. But if you’re a foreigner, it seems that supreme commander Kim Jong-un is willing to let you use Pyongyang’s WiFi access points.

With a few exceptions, North Korean citizens are forced to use Kwangmyong — a closed network separate from the internet we know and love. After all, unfiltered communication with the outside world is largely forbidden. While I’d certainly love to see a North Korean government-branded search engine in action, it wouldn’t be of much practical use to anyone looking for a taste of the outside world. And as such, it makes a lot of sense that the government is willing to bend the rules for visitors, but not for citizens.

On a DPRK-focused site dubbed NK News, a social worker by the name of Choi Jae-yeong claims that multiple WiFi hotspots exist across Pyongyang, but only foreigners are allowed access. Supposedly, access is gated by SIM cards sold only to foreigners by KoryoLink. Jae-yeong says that video streaming and typical web browsing work well over these connections, but the amount of censorship and monitoring going on is unclear. Even if everything seems to be on the up and up, I’d recommend any foreigners steer clear of anything controversial in the least. If you start searching around for hot-button issues, how fast will the North Korean police come a-knocking?

So, how can a SIM card authenticate you to a WiFi access point? It’s not exactly clear, but there are a couple of possibilities. Ars Technica commenter d3x7r0 offered up the idea that they’re using EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol) to ensure you’re not a “rogue” North Korean citizen. Alternately, the solution might be as simple as being text-messaged a password — just like SMS two-factor authentication on websites like PayPal.

Regardless of the implementation details, it’s fascinating that this exists at all. Demand is apparently significant enough from foreigners that the government’s tight grip on internet access is continuing to loosen ever so slowly. This is a far cry from the unbridled access that the DPRK’s citizens deserve, but it’s something. And at the very least, it’s a sign that tourism and international relations is on an upswing.



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