News & Insights

Tag: North Korea

  • Early Korean Mission Strategy and Structure 1880-1940

    Early Korean Mission Strategy and Structure 1880-1940

    Early Korean Mission Strategy and Structure 1880-1940: Bridging the Gap Between Traditional Mission Methods and Church Movements

    The early Korean Protestant church experienced growth and expansion to such a degree that one of its cities, Pyongyang, became known as “The Jerusalem of the East.” Many missiologists look to the Korean Revival of 1907 as the spark of the rapid increase, when in fact the church had already been growing exponentially before that point. This article explores the underlying strategies and methods used by the missionaries and indigenous believers which allowed the church to grow quickly. The amount of evangelism and Bible distribution performed by untrained believers was exceptional and undoubtedly connected to the rapid expansion.

    http://ojs.globalmissiology.org/index.php/english/article/view/2687/6634

  • Project Reveal: New research into North Korea’s Digital Control System

    Project Reveal: New research into North Korea’s Digital Control System

    The availability of the Internet and smartphones has transformed societies around the world. Citizens now can access knowledge from around the globe, seek out independent news coverage and voice their opinion with little filter. While state controls exist to varying degrees in some countries, nowhere is the control as complete and restrictive as North Korea.

    While the smartphones available in Pyongyang are little different to those available in other countries, the installation of custom software, a closed communications network and constant monitoring, mean the device in North Korea is useful to consumers for little more than consumption of state-approved propaganda. However, for the state, smartphones constitute a potentially potent vector for remote surveillance at scale. To date, there is no evidence that metadata is being exploited at a large scale for surveillance purposes, but this is an area that must be monitored.

    Much of North Korea’s information control system is based on the same technologies that underpin the Internet and smartphones globally but rather than expanding access to knowledge, North Korean engineers have removed or modified features to block it.

    Research explores use of technology inside North Korea, issues with usage of that technology and methods dissemination. Also explores how North Koreans are getting around attempts to block information dissemination. The result is a cat-and-mouse game involving technology, cell-phones and other devices.

    https://www.lumen.global/reveal-report

  • North Korea’s War Against Outside Information and Culture

    North Korea’s War Against Outside Information and Culture

    In recent years, the North Korean government’s war against outside information and culture has intensified. At its core, this war stems from the government’s belief that outside information and culture, which fall under the umbrella of “non-socialist culture,” causes fissures in people’s loyalty toward the regime, particularly the young generation, and poses an existential threat to society’s status quo.

    https://www.38north.org/2023/05/north-koreas-war-against-outside-information-and-culture