A mobile carrier refers to a company that provides wireless communications service to customers. Major mobile service providers in South Korea are SK Telecom, KT and LG U-Plus. Around the world, there are Verizon and AT&T in the U.S., NTT Docomo in Japan, and Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone Group Plc in Europe, just to name a few. How about North Korea? 

Today, we’ll learn about North Korea’s telecommunications companies and mobile communications service from Professor Jeong Eun Chan at the National Institute for Unification Education. 

People bring their smartphones everywhere, such as streets and restaurants and on public transportation. Indeed, smartphones have become an essential part of modern life. Similarly, mobile phones are regarded as a daily necessity for residents in North Korea.  

(North Korean citizen. woman): It’s so fun to use a cell phone, as its functions diversify day after day. Phones have become an indispensable part of our lives. 

The number of mobile phones in use in North Korea is about seven million. A mobile phone is described as “hand phone” in the North. The North Korea monitoring website 38 North has identified some one-thousand cellular base stations in North Korea through satellite imagery. 

It seems the mobile phone penetration rate of the reclusive North is rising fast. Who started the mobile communication service in the country and when? 

Following a massive explosion at Ryongchon railway station in North Korea in 2004, the North Korean authorities prohibited residents from using mobile phones. At the time, rumors spread that the explosion was triggered by a mobile device in an attempt to assassinate then-leader Kim Jong-il. 

Four years later, in 2008, a major change took place in the country’s stagnant mobile communication business. 

The mobile communications service resumed in North Korea in 2008, when Egyptian telecom company Orascom set up Koryolink, a joint firm with the North’s Korea Post and Telecommunications Corporation. Koryolink obtained a 25-year license and exclusive rights for the first four years. 

When the exclusivity period of four years ended, a new mobile operator appeared in North Korea. 

As North Korea’s mobile communications business hit its stride, the number of subscribers of Koryolink surpassed one million in 2012. The figure reached two million in 2013 and three million in 2015. The growing number of mobile phone users raised the need for a new telecom operator, prompting the authorities to establish one, namely, Kang Song Net. 

Koryolink offers a full-fledged 3G service to foreigners and high-ranking North Korean officials. But its subscribers are required to pay for extra minutes in dollars when they go over the minutes allowed under a particular phone plan. Subscribers of Kang Song Net, on the other hand, can use the North Korean won in the same situation. Also, its telecommunication fees are cheaper than Koryolink’s. Little wonder local citizens prefer Kang Song Net. In 2015, another new mobile network operator was created. 

With the emergence of Byol, three players compete with one another in North Korea’s mobile communications industry. We can’t help but wonder how advanced their technology is. 

North Korea has still been using the 3G network since the country first built it in 2008 with the help of Orascom. It shows a contrast to mobile carriers in major countries including the U.S., which are moving to close their 3G services in phases. 

But North Korea’s mobile communication industry has developed relatively fast under current leader Kim Jong-un’s rule. 

The North Korean leader, who places emphasis on science and technology, has stressed the importance of fourth-generation or 4G and fifth-generation or 5G technology at every opportunity. North Korea included 5G technology research in the list of major tasks for its “frontal breakthrough” drive in 2020. 

The leader inspected a factory that produces North Korea’s own smartphone brand Arirang. In fact, North Korea has released new smartphones, despite the worsening economic situation stemming from the pandemic-induced border shutdowns. 

Since North Korea released its first smartphone Arirang in 2013, it has continued to unveil new products. With smartphones spreading, locals are using a variety of smartphone apps. 

As of 2021, the number of smartphone users in North Korea was estimated at six million. In addition to the popular navigation app, local mobile carriers have provided various other apps including the gaming app “Boy General,” a spinoff of an animation series that is hugely popular among children. 

Other popular apps include delivery apps and payment apps that can be used on online markets. But North Korea’s mobile communications have limitations. 

North Korea forces mobile phone users to install the tightly-controlled intranet called Kwangmyong. The North built and operates the national intranet, which looks like the Internet in terms of technology. But the domestic-only network denies access to the outside world. That is, the authorities are using the intranet app to monitor detailed records of the mobile service people use and the phone calls they make.  

North Korea’s mobile communication service has developed for years. But the authorities try hard to prevent people from enjoying a free atmosphere while they are using the service. It remains to be seen how North Korea’s mobile communication business may evolve, in the face of a dilemma between the government’s strict control over the service and the freedom of communication that users enjoy.