By Lee Seung-joon
Even the North Korean elite have become enraged against tight control on the use of their computer printers.
Open Radio for North Korea (ORNK) reported on Nov. 14 that North Korea authorities have shut down private computer printers amid the rampant printing and distribution of confidential documents of ranking officials and trade contracts of businesses. ORNK is a Seoul-based, short-wave radio broadcaster airing programs to listeners in North Korea.
This is the first time that the reclusive regime has ever restricted citizens in using their private printers. Previously, it cut off radio frequencies and TV channels with the aim of preventing an influx of unfavorable news from the outside world.
The broadcaster said that North Korean residents printed and read erotic stories such as a collection of lewd stories that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il supposedly enjoyed reading. The residents have smuggled books from China as they could reprint them easily with printers by just having papers.
The North Korean regime has started cracking down on those who have circulated confidential documents of high-ranking officials and trading contracts signed by government agencies.
As a result, printer holders have to get permission from the authority for every printout. All private printers have been obliged to register with the authorities concerned. This is based on the grounds that illegally printed material might harm the ideological commitment of residents.
Most printer holders in North Korea belong to the wealthy class, such as high ranking party members or the elite.
“North Korean residents should not own printers or computers. North Koreans should not be civilized,” the broadcaster quoted them as saying sarcastically. “We have to live like animals and fools.”
The writer is a Korea Times intern