The unlikely reason for North Korea's real estate boom
In Pyongyang, North Korea, the real estate market is quite lucrative — and it's all thanks to the foreign embassies.
The Diplomat reports that North Koreans are investing real estate near foreign embassies in order to access their Wi-Fi services, some of which don't have passwords. They're not just trying to save money, though — the internet is banned entirely in North Korea.
North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity (NKIS), a think tank in Seoul, reports that a broker was arrested in June for encouraging housing purchases in the area, helping clients sell their previous residents. According to The Diplomat, it's illegal for people in North Korea to "make real estate deals among individuals."
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The Diplomat also notes that college students have been seen spending time near a Middle Eastern embassy to access the Wi-Fi on their smartphones. North Korea has asked the embassies to add passwords to their Wi-Fi services or provide weaker signals, but not all of them have complied.
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