Like many aspects of North Korean life, internet in the totalitarian state is kept hidden from outsiders. That was until recently, when the country’s list of registered domain names was accidentally leaked to the rest of the world. More surprising than the content of the North Korean web is the number of sites: As Gizmodo reports, a grand total of 28 domains were uncovered.
The leak came after an engineer in the U.S. sent North Korea an automated request to access all of the domains in their main Domain Name System (DNS) server. The server is normally programmed to reject such a request, but this time something went wrong and access was granted. The list of domains was posted to GitHub, and then to Reddit on September 19.
Many of the websites have since been taken down, but plenty of screenshots were saved from the leak. As you can see below, the North Korean internet includes websites dedicated to news, charity, film, education, sports, food, and even social networking.
North Korea’s internet still remains a mystery to most people within the country’s borders. According to ABC News, computers are only accessible to select citizens like university students and government employees. This means that only about 10,000 to 20,000 residents out of North Korea’s population of 25 million are connected to the web.
[h/t Gizmodo]
All images: Screenshots via Reddit.
Know of something you think we should cover? Email us at tips@mentalfloss.com.
September 21, 2016 – 1:30pm