Reports today claim that users of Koryolink, the fledgling North Korean mobile operator, are able to access limited Internet services via mobile devices. According to AP News, which cites the government-run Uriminzokkiri website, North Koreans can access news reports carried by the country’s official Korean Central News Agency as well as news about the capital city, Pyongyang. The report notes that the Korean-language website as accessed via a traditional PC allows viewers to listen to North Korean music, get information about books, art and investment opportunities in North Korea and even engage in Internet chatting. It is unclear, however, if those services are available in the mobile version. The availability of even basic mobile Internet services in North Korea would likely surprise many industry observers in light of the authoritarian nature of the state.

Last month it was reported that Koryolink had signed up 20,000 customers by the end of March. The mobile network – the country’s first since an earlier, short lived network was shut down in 2004 – launched in December 2008 and is a joint-venture between Egypt-based Orascom (75 percent) and the local state-owned body, Korea Posts and Telecom Corp (KPTC), which holds the remaining 25 percent. At launch the network covered the capital city, Pyongyang, and a highway linking Pyongyang to the northern city of Hyangsan. Koryolink reportedly aims to expand the network to the entire country by 2012. Orascom’s license in the country – officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or DPRK – is believed to allow it to offer mobile services over a 25-year period with an exclusivity period of four years. The company is expected to invest US$400 million in network infrastructure in the country over the next three years.