In North Korea, Internet access is not as unrestricted as it is in the West. The population only has limited Internet access to learn as much as possible about the rest of the world.
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Internet access is severely restricted in North Korea
Employees and even agents of the state must obtain permission if they need access to the Internet. Several agents of a secret office have now been fired after surfing the Internet without permission, according to the Daily Mail.
The Ministry of State Security was allegedly tipped off by a colleague of the intelligence officials, and then conducted an inspection which revealed their illicit activities.
The dismissal concerns agents from the regime's Bureau 10, the secretive agency reviewing and tracking all internal and external communications in the repressive state.
One of the agents searched online for the head of state
Because one of the agents dared to research information about Kim Jong-un himself, the Supreme Leader of North Korea, he is now being threatened with the firing squad. His research is considered unforgivable.
A source in Pyongyang told South Korean publication Daily NK:
Bureau 10 departments are given access to the internet, which had allowed agents to turn off their search word recording devices and search the web as much as they like without issue.
But after a new bureau chief took over, even these previously routine issues have turned into major incidents.
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Experts have long speculated that the restriction of information to the population is slowly becoming untenable. Greg Scarlatoiu, director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, said:
Even the most trusted agents of the Kim regime are now attempting to access information from the outside world.
The Kim family regime has stayed in power through overwhelming coercion, punishment, surveillance and information control.
He added:
The regime continues to see the very limited information entering the country from the outside world as a grave threat to its grip on power.
Despite the regime’s efforts, the North Korean information firewall is slowly, but surely and steadily, crumbling.
The incident is under further investigation
The agents were all responsible for developing North Korea's firewall. All of the dismissed employees are said to be very young and have only been working in the office for a few years.
The incident is now being investigated further to determine whether the agents gave or sold information to third parties without permission. This could weaken the regime's position of power.
This article has been translated from Gentside DE.
Sources used:
DailyMail: 'North Korean agent faces the firing squad after he was caught Googling 'Kim Jong Un''
Metro: 'Spy who dared to Google Kim Jong-un faces death by firing squad in North Korea'