North Korea threatened to ban anyone using a cell phone earlier this year. The leader had announced that anyone using a cellphone would be charged as a war criminal.
North Koreans are not allowed to make international calls or access the internet on their cell phones. Approximately 1 million people have use of cell phones currently. The threat was not executed and the people can still have cell phones.
North Korea is number 155 in the World Factbook list of every country according to the amount of cell phone subscribers that country has. Number 1 is China followed by India and then the U.S. North Korea falls at 155, below them is Suriname and Swaziland.
Cell phones are a major commodity that most of the world has. However, a good amount of the world can access and experience international news, culture, and politics. I think cell phones play a big part in connecting the world together. This is something that North Koreans lack. Obviously, they are an isolated country.
After watching a National Geographic video, it shows an American being brought into North Korea to perform medical procedures on 1,000 people to cure blindness. After the citizens realized they could see, they did not thank the American doctor, but rather went right to their leader’s picture on the wall and starting praising him. The country is losing sight of the world as a whole and only knows their leader. I think the access to cell phones and the internet would change how they view the world, especially their own country.
Post by: Jennifer Knowlton
North vs. South Korea 
I found this post very interesting. I am astounded that South Korea cannot make international calls through their cell phones. When I think about our society today, I feel as though in America, cell phones grant us an extreme amount of freedom and are a vital component in connecting us to the rest of the country and the rest of the world. I feel as though cell phones are essential in creating relationships throughout the world and maintaining ties to places outside of our country. Without the ability to make international calls in South Korea, the ability for them to progress and gain freedom as citizens is severely hindered. It always amazes me and puts into perspective just how drastically different our world really is. Part of what makes our society so truly free and democratic is our ability to create so many channels of communication with the rest of the world via social media, tv, radio, and especially the use of cell phones. Cell phones and access to places all over the world are what helped our country grow in both personal, cultural aspects, and especially business aspects. To think that South Korea is prohibited from such an act creates a large barrier amongst achieving this globalization that our world is progressing towards.
That is very shocking to hear that in North Korea they have such severe restrictions towards cell phone use, and also that their citizens appear to be so brainwashed? I don’t understand why they would praise their leader immediately after a doctor preforms surgery to regain their sight? I can imagine praying to a religious figure, but it seems a bit strange from my perspective to praise a countries leader. If I had life altering surgery, I think people would find it odd if I immediately went straight to a photo of president Obama and started praising it. This could just be a cultural difference in how we view our leaders.
It also is surprising to me that the government could have the power to restrict an entire countries cell phone use? While they are ranked much lower on the World Factbook List of countries use of cell phones, I just feel like that is a lot of power to have over a country. In the United States we use our cell phones for everything, communication, entertainment, directions, weather and as a generator for information. I can’t imagine how different their lifestyles must be!
This article was very interesting to me. Although I knew that North Korea was an isolated country, I was not aware that their use of cell phones was under fire and that they were that out of touch with the rest of the world. I believe that access to cell phones and the internet has shaped the world into what it is today. Without these means of communication, we would still be living very much just country to country, and not as a worldwide society. This is shown when the poster talks about the blind patients getting cured and went straight to a poster of their leader. The citizens are completely blind to the world outside them and this is greatly due to to lack of cell phone use. North Korea is such a large country and it is hard to believe that they are near Suriname and Swaziland as far as cell phone use is. Overall, the use of cell phones is an important part of life today and the citizens of North Korea should have the opportunity to utilize them in order to become part of the global community.
This article is really interesting and surprising me a lot. I knew that North Korea is an isolated country, however, I wasn’t aware that their ability to use our handy commodity “cell-phone” is that limited. I can’t believe that this would happen in my culture, my daily life as I make lots of phone calls everyday, even international calls. I think North Korean without the access of cell phone really makes them lack of information and deprive their freedom of speech. Using cell-phone is an unquestionable trend of our daily life. I just feel like North Korean should have the opportunity to utilize new technology to connect to the whole world.
I couldn’t imagine living in a world or even a time without cell phones. It is a commodity that has become so important and so common in our generation that it is difficult to imagine a world without them. I can imagine that some areas may not have the advancement of access to internet and therefore lack smartphones, however, I could not imagine that the goverment has the ability to control this access. It is shocking to me that they are able to threaten to ban the use of cell phones. If a government official in the United States were to even mention something so absurd, they would never live such a foolish statement down. It is amazing to me that in a time where technological advancement is so predominant, that countries such as North Korea are completely missing the benefits it can provide. They are more focused on complete power over their people and therefore decide to remove any potential threat that these commodities can create. It is scary to believe that in 2012 this type of control still takes place. The photo that shows the difference between South Korea and North Korea is also an eye opener. It is hard to believe that two countries so close have such different regulations and lifestyles. I can’t imagine how people continue to live through the conditions the government creates and that these people actually support the actions of their corrupt government official wholeheartedly!