Looking for clandestine news website about DPRK that I read about

December 15, 2013 10:23 AM

A month or two ago I read about a network of clandestine reporters who use old cell phones to collect information inside North Korea and then publish it to the internet. What is the name of that website, and where did I see that article?

This is what I remember about the article. I remember it pretty well.

The site is run by a man living in China and he uses reporters from Japan, China, and ROK. Site readership is small but growing rapidly. Academic and diplomat-types have started to rely to it for high quality and accurate information. I think the site had a four-letter name, like KCIA but not that obviously. The hope of the site owner is that the news the reporters gather will find its way back into North Korea.

I cannot figure out the combination of search words that would lead me to the article. I might have read it in The Atlantic or Harpers. I give up. Looking for it is driving me crazy.

My question is not a covert ad for the site (I'm not astroturfing). I just want to find it!

posted by vincele to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

Best answer: Are you possibly thinking of the Daily NK? Not sure where you might have seen an article about it recently, but it is considered one of the most accurate sources of information about North Korea, and I believe it has a network of informants who communicate with cell phones across the NK-China border.
posted by st elmo's fire at 11:23 AM on December 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

I remember reading that very thing. I found New Focus International in my bookmarks; it looks similar and interesting but I'm not sure it's the very site that we have in mind.
posted by Corvid at 11:33 AM on December 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Yup it was DailyNK. I found the article. It was from 2011, not more recent.

Thanks for New Focus International, I will check that out too, Corvid.
posted by vincele at 11:49 AM on December 15, 2013 [1 favorite]