Additionally, the new rules will block subscribers from using their phone outside of the city where it is registered.
"Mobile phones have played a big role in spreading information," added Ishimaru Jiro, the publisher of Rimjin-gang Magazine. The magazine is written by Japanese journalists undercover inside North Korea.
New subscribers were given distinct first four digit numbers in a move that would isolate the 1 million phone subscribers with video cameras, Bluetooth and memory cards.
If you want to keep the features, and your old number, you have to pay $1000, a number well out of reach for most of the population. The average North Korean citizen makes $3 USD per month (yes $3), a heinously low figure.
The move should effectively block smartphones from the nation as well as the free flow of information.
Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 31 Jul 2012 21:53