11 August, 2005

Ten out of 31 websites blocked by the government last year for peddling North Korean propaganda have been accessible again since July. Most of the sites are either operated by North Korean authorities on overseas servers or run by pro-Pyongyang groups or individuals overseas.

A government official said as of Thursday, 10 sites were accessible including the websites of the National Democratic Front of South Korea, Minjok Tongshin and World Korea Network.

"Uriminzokkiri", a propaganda site reportedly run by the North Korean authorities themselves, the website of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (generally known by the abbreviation Chongryeon in Korean), or the website of that organization's mouthpiece, the Choson Sinbo remain inaccessible.

A government official said Thursday, "I understand the government didn't take any separate measures to remove the blocks... It's confusing because we can access some of the sites despite this."

An official with the Information Communication Ethics Committee, the body that blocked the sites last November, said, "There are cases where if the administrator of an overseas pro-North Korean site changes the IP, one can access the site despite the block.?? The committee will make the necessary corrections in the name of the Ministry of Information and Communication if necessary once it finds out what is going on, he said.