N.Korea offers mobile internet to foreigners

Foreigners who live in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North Korea) will soon be allowed access to mobile Internet starting Monday, a joint-venture technician told China's Xinhua news agency on Saturday.

"You will be able to tweet, Skype and surf the Internet from your own cellphones, iPads and other mobile devices as soon as you register at the Korean Communication Center," said an unnamed technician from the Korean-Egyptian joint venture company Koryolink. "We will provide both a USB modem and your current own SIM card to get access to Internet, respectively costs 75 euro and 150 euro upon registration, with different levels of charge standard, from 400euro/10G, 250euro/5G, to 150euro/2G for USB and 10 euro for SIM card per month," he said. "We have tried more than one year to negotiate with the Korean side, and got the approval recently," said the technician, noting again "it has nothing to do with the Google trip." However, North Korean citizens will still not have access to the mobile Internet service or make international calls.

The announcement came one month after the North Korea began allowing foreigners to bring their own cellphones into the country to purchase Koryolink-made SIM cards, at the airport or at Koryolink shops for 50 euros (US$70). Calls abroad range from 0.38 euros a minute to Switzerland and France, and more than five euros a minute to the United States, with calls to South Korea still remain prohibited. "Since the number of foreign residents here are limited, we will try to get more permission from the Korean security side to launch more services for short time tourists coming here for travel," he said. Though the charge is comparatively expensive, we are excited about the relaxation of controls on communication, said a Nepalese resident, adding that it will be more convenient for them to work in the country. There are 1.8 million Koreans using 3G cellphones across the country. However, Koreans and foreigners can not make calls between each other due to their SIM cards set by different segments.