North Korea Hits 1 Million Cell Phone Users, But Growth Slows

The Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability reports 60 percent of people aged 20 to 50 own mobile phones in the capital of Pyongyang, where the country's most affluent citizens reside.

"Especially for the younger generation in their 20s and 30s, as well as the merchant community, a cell phone is seen as a must, and many youngsters can no longer see their lives without it", said Alexandre Mansourov of the NISS.

The surge in mobile communication comes after North Korea lifted a ban on handsets in 2008 and subsequently teamed up with Orascom to provide a government-sanctioned network.

In April, South Korean Vice Unification minister Um Jong-Sik reported North Korean cell phone owners had risen to 450,000 from half that number last year.

The Arab Spring dampened that surge, however, as the Kim dynasty began confiscating phones for fear "commoners" would use them to foment similar rebellions.

The clampdown appears to have worked. As things currently stand, Orascom's 3G network covers only Pyongyang, phones remain luxury items costing nearly 25 times the average worker's salary, and Internet access to the outside world is prohibited.

In the near term, these barriers will likely prevent North Koreans from rising up against their regime as protestors have done in the Middle East.

"In the long run, the growth of interaction between people is a problem for the regime, but it might take years, or even decades, before the situation will be ripe for an outbreak of internal discontent", said Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University in Seoul.

Lankov, though he discounts the idea of an uprising anytime soon, still suggests North Korea's gradual openness to technology may become its undoing. Once poorer people across the country begin to share their experiences by phone, they will likely discover common ground that may build a foundation for future revolutions.