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A gentle wind of change has been blowing in North Korea, albeit in the digital realm. The technology laggard country is “on the cusp of a digital transformation,” according to a recent report. Research from the Nautilus Institute shows that an increased availability of mobile phones and higher ownership of mobile phones in the North is forcing the country’s government to change its ways. The report says that increased communication options have forced rulers to deter North Koreans from posting what they deem to be ‘unsuitable comments’ rather than restricting its population from communicating through modern technology.

“The Nautilus Institute contends in a new report that North Korea is on the cusp of digital transformation thanks to the increasing importance of cell phones and computers in the country.

The report, which is available online (PDF), is a comprehensive and well-researched history and study of the emerging digital communications business in North Korea and was written by Alexandre Y. Mansourov, a senior associate at the organization. Mansourov specializes in Korean peninsula issues and once lived in Pyongyang studying for an Advanced Diploma in Korean studies at Kim Il Sung University.

It’s recommended reading for anyone interested in North Korean IT issues.”

“The DPRK (North Korea) mobile communications industry has crossed the Rubicon,” Alexandre Y. Mansourov, senior researcher at Nautilus Institute in Washington, said in a report on the North’s nascent but potential digitalization. “And the North Korean government can no longer roll it back without paying a severe political price.”

CIA documents shed light on S. Korea’s nuke ambition in 1970s, Shin Hae-in, Korea Herald, 27 September 2011 Global Asia, a publication of the East Asia Foundation in Seoul, said the previously secret U.S. documents show that South Korea continued to develop nuclear weapons at least two years after Washington thought it had ceased during […]

S. Korea’s nuke ambition lasted until 1978: CIA documents, Lee Chi-dong, Yonhap News, 26 September 2011 The revelations provide “important new information” on the Park administration’s efforts and on the U.S. response to his continuing program, said Moon Jung-in, professor at Yonsei University in Seoul, and Peter Hayes, executive director of the Nautilus Institute. Click […]

Is a Nuclear-Free East Asia Possible? A Debate, Jeju Weekly, 29 May 2011 Moderator Peter Hayes, Director of the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability, stated the meetings agenda and explained that the situation needs to be dealt with from a non-proliferation and safety perspective.

Getting the Lights Back on the Fast Way, Carl Pope, Huffington Post, 28 April 2011 According to the latest Nautilus Institute model, the centralized model is slightly cheaper in terms of levelized cost of electricity, but significantly slower. And when it comes to power, slow and steady does not win the race. In a more […]

Japan’s shock vibrates around the world, Hamish McDonald, Sydney Morning Herald, 26 March 2011. An initial survey by the Nautilus Institute, a respected think tank on nuclear issues, points out that in addition to the Fukushima No.1 reactors, several other nuclear and thermal power plants in both the Tokyo and Tohoku (north-east) power systems are […]

“Japan’s Nuclear Nightmare”, Four Corners, ABC TV, 21 March 2011

Reactor plans go ahead despite critics’ warnings, Sydney Morning Herald, Tom Allard, 19 March 2011 Richard Tanter, a nuclear expert with the Nautilus Institute, believes Indonesia should drop its ambitions altogether. The disaster at Fukushima ”happened in a country with the best nuclear regulations in the world”, he said. Given its endemic corruption, Mr Tanter […]