News of Egypt unrest spreads in N. Korea via cell phones

News of Egypt unrest spreads in N. Korea via cell phones. February. 06, 2011 10:56. kyle@donga.com.

With the ruling elite in several Arab countries shaken up by a series of civil uprisings, whether a similar movement could occur in North Korea is attracting speculation.

Most experts say, however, that the North will not see an Egyptian-style popular uprising in the near future.

While Egypt has anti-government groups such as youth organizations and Muslim Brotherhood groups leading the protests, the North has too few people who could lead a revolution in the North, where government apparatuses including the State Security Department and the People`s Security Ministry hunt down suspected dissidents to execute or throw them into concentration camps for political prisoners.

"Whereas the Egyptian people think it`s possible to topple a dictatorship by participating in protests, few North Koreans have such an idea," said Choi Wan-gyu, vice president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

The North is also a closed society where the Internet and other information channels connected to the outside world are blocked, he added, making it even more difficult to organize popular uprisings.

The situation in Egypt, however, has gotten North Korean authorities nervous, as the communist country has about 350,000 mobile phones in use and information on the outside world is rapidly spreading into the North via China.

The U.S.-based broadcaster Radio Free Asia quoted Wednesday an American businessman with good knowledge of the North`s situation as saying many North Koreans are aware of the protests in Egypt because mobile phones are rapidly spreading information from the outside world.

He also said North Korean officials overseas talk about the situation in Egypt to their relatives or friends in the North, with the news spreading via mobile phones.

Radio Free Asia also said Friday that John Everard, former British ambassador to North Korea, said marketplaces allow North Koreans not only to haggle over prices but also to hear news from other places, including on public executions and floods, adding that he believes the Egyptian crisis must be a topic at North Korean marketplaces.

Everard, who stayed in Pyongyang from 2006 to 2008, told a forum hosted by the Washington-based private think tank Korea Economic Institute that marketplaces in the North are not just where people buy and sell goods but also where they exchange information without limits.