I’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.

There is no internet access in North Korea. Okay. It’s true: this is partly because so few people even have electricity, but it’s mostly because information is so strictly controlled here in the most reclusive of countries. There is an intranet – North Korean computers that connect with other North Korean computers, but as for outside access: not readily available, even though it is said that Kim Jong Il once asked for Madeline Albright’s email address. It has been suggested that North Korea has a “comprehensive official fantasy worldview” which even the smallest of outside information leaks could easily destroy. And so, instead of the information superhighway, North Korea has the information cul de sac.

With thanks to Randi Hacker for this text, from the Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Bill Tsutsui. Wish you were here.