Sparks Beyond the Net--The Birth of the North Korea-Russia Communications Corridor" (2017-present)

Sparks Beyond the Net--The Birth of the North Korea-Russia Communications Corridor" (2017-present)

In the fall of 2017, TransTelecom, a Russian telecommunications company, opened a new Internet connection to North Korea. This was the first "second road" for the North's telecommunications environment, which had been dependent on Chinese lines. The fiber-optic cable crossed the Eurasian land and extended northward across the DPRK-Russia Friendship Bridge.

The significance of this connection was not merely to ensure redundancy. The Russian line is also an extension of a survival strategy for North Korea - easing its dependence on China, strengthening its telecommunications independence, and part of a national cyber strategy.

But this new window is not open to the people. The North Korean populace is still in the closed cage of the "lighthouse" network. Fingerprint identification, watchdogs, and walls of censorship. Freedom is still so far away in the form of information that it cannot even be touched.

What is the isolated northern island nation attempting to connect to the thin thread of communication? Is it the light of external connection or the watchful eye shining in the dark night?