Lines cut

last updated 8 January 2015

Pyongyang, North Korea

North Korea has shut off all telephone service to the outside world, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported this week. Only a few trading companies and government agencies in North Korea have access to international phone lines, but most of those have been cut in the past few months. Now, even people with permits to use the international lines must make calls under the direct surveillance of security officials. The tightened security is believed to be aimed at preventing any disturbances during the upcoming 60th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan.