North Korea Punishes Mobile Phone Use During Mourning Period

The government-sanctioned Workers' Party said it will punish anyone found using a mobile phone during the 100-day mourning period following Kim Jong-il's death "like a war criminal", according to The Telegraph.

The declaration is an aggressive tactic by new leader Kim Jong-un, son of Kim Jong-il, likely intended to clarify his intentions to continue his father's legacy of government censorship. But as more citizens gain access to contraband phones, Jong-un's efforts could face increased scrutiny from the outside world.

Four years ago, officials imprisoned people for possessing handsets in North Korea, but lifted the ban in 2008 in order to create a severely restricted, government-sanctioned network.

Last May, the North Korean government once again cracked down on cell phones after rumors of Web-organized uprisings in the Middle East reached the isolated country.

Mobile devices are expensive and still difficult to afford in North Korea, and despite growing numbers, only five percent of the total population owns a cell phone. Most owners are younger, affluent workers residing in the capital of Pyongyang, but handsets are slowly working their way into the average population.

Many contraband devices arrive secretly via the Chinese and Russian borders, providing an important inroad for the authoritarian country since Internet use is generally unavailable to most members of the general population.

However, users face strict punishment if caught accessing networks outside the government's, and international calls lasting more than five minutes are subject to government tracking.

Mobile technology is a vital means of information for North Korean citizens, but using it carries great risk. Still, mobile devices are on the rise, and have the power to change the country more than ever before, a possible reason for the renewed restrictions.