list of North Korean websites banned in South Korea

{{Short description|none}}

{{Multiple issues|

{{Update|date=October 2024}}

{{Expand Korean|date=February 2025}}

}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}

File:News piece published by the Korean Central News Agency, in reaction to a UN Human Rights report, 2014 (screen shot).png in Japan carries articles of the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and is blocked in South Korea.]]

{{As of|2010}}, there are 65 North Korean-run and pro-North Korean websites blocked in South Korea. A test conducted by OpenNet Initiative in 2010 found that most websites blocked in South Korea are related to North Korea. The number of blocked North Korean sites has increased in recent years.

Blocking is based on the National Security Act, and coordinated by the Korea Communications Standards Commission, which also engages in Internet surveillance.{{Cite web|title=South Korea |publisher=Reporters Without Borders |work=en.rsf.org |access-date=4 October 2015 |url=http://en.rsf.org/surveillance-south-korea,39757.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912002734/http://en.rsf.org/surveillance-south-korea%2C39757.html |archive-date=12 September 2015}} The commission is nominally independent but mainly appointed by the government.{{Cite news | title = Why South Korea is really an internet dinosaur | author = S.C.S. | newspaper = The Economist | date = 10 February 2014 | access-date = 13 September 2015 | url = https://www.economist.com//blogs//economist-explains//2014//02//economist-explains-3 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150913151109/http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/02/economist-explains-3 | archive-date = 13 September 2015 | url-status = live}} The blocks are implemented by Internet service providers (ISPs).{{Cite web | title = OpenNet Initiative: Bulletin 009: Collateral Blocking: Filtering by South Korean Government of Pro-North Korean Websites | work = opennet.net | date = 31 January 2005 | access-date = 4 October 2015 | url = https://opennet.net/bulletins/009/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160912162739/https://opennet.net/bulletins/009/ | archive-date = 12 September 2016}} South Korean law imposes punishments up to seven years of imprisonment for attempting to access blocked sites. According to Reporters Without Borders, blocking of North Korean websites is not viewed favorably by South Korean Internet users and some know how to circumvent it. Internet Archive's Wayback Machine and web caches of search engines are not blocked and include copies of North Korean websites.{{Cite web | title = On Reading North Korean Media: The Curse of the Web | last = Weiser | first = Martin | work = Sino-NK | date = 31 October 2016 | access-date = 23 July 2017 | url = http://sinonk.com/2016/10/31/on-reading-north-korean-media-the-curse-of-the-web/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170907170426/http://sinonk.com/2016/10/31/on-reading-north-korean-media-the-curse-of-the-web/ | archive-date = 7 September 2017}}

In 2005, up to 3,167 webpages unrelated to North Korea were found to be blocked due to blocking IPs at the router level. DNS tampering that prevents domain names to be resolved into correct IPs is also used.

In addition to entire websites, it is possible to block accounts on social media,{{Cite web | title = North Korea Uses Twitter For Propaganda Offensive | author = Sangwon Yoon | agency = Associated Press | others = Kwang-tae Kim (AP) | work = The Huffington Post | date = 25 May 2011 | access-date = 4 October 2015 | url = https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/16/north-korea-twitter-propa_n_682920.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141007062045/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/16/north-korea-twitter-propa_n_682920.html | archive-date = 7 October 2014 | url-status = live}} and some 13 accounts have been blocked on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter,{{Cite web | title = Censorship on pro-NK websites tight | author = Lee Tae-hoon | work = koreatimes | date = 9 September 2010 | access-date = 4 October 2015 | url = https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/12/113_72788.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151208212750/http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/12/113_72788.html | archive-date = 8 December 2015 | url-status = live}} including Uriminzokkiri's Twitter account. Twitter, however, has proven impractical to censor because retweets of North Korean tweets by other users are not blocked.{{Cite web| title = Retweeting DPRK lands activist with suspended sentance| author = Martyn Williams| publisher=North Korea Tech| date = 24 November 2012| access-date = 4 October 2015| url = http://www.northkoreatech.org/2012/11/24/retweeting-dprk-lands-activist-with-suspended-sentance/| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151210200421/http://www.northkoreatech.org/2012/11/24/retweeting-dprk-lands-activist-with-suspended-sentance/| archive-date = 10 December 2015}} Furthermore, any links to North Korean websites in the tweets are already blocked.{{Cite web | title = Blocking Twitter/Facebook Not the Answer | author = Mok Yong Jae | work=Daily NK | date = 25 August 2010 | access-date = 4 October 2015 | url = http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00100&num=6733 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151210200050/http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00100&num=6733 | archive-date = 10 December 2015}} Individual contents of websites hosted in South Korea may also be deleted. In 2010, South Korean website administrators were forced to delete 80,499 pro-North Korea messages.{{Cite web | title = No. of police requests to delete pro-NK content leaps 45-fold | work = english.donga.com | date = 17 September 2011 | access-date = 4 October 2015 | url = http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=040000&biid=2011091738568 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151210194349/http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=040000&biid=2011091738568 | archive-date = 10 December 2015 | url-status = live}}

Blocking has increased from previous years.{{Cite web | title = South Korea | publisher = OpenNet Initiative | work = opennet.net | date = 6 August 2012 | access-date = 4 October 2015 | url = https://opennet.net/research/profiles/south-korea | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150911095322/https://opennet.net/research/profiles/south-korea | archive-date = 11 September 2015}} According to Reporters Without Borders, blocking sharply intensified during Lee Myung-bak's presidency. In OpenNet Initiative's 2006 test, the overwhelming majority of tested North Korean websites were blocked.{{Cite web | title = Internet Filtering in South Korea in 2006–2007 | publisher = OpenNet Initiative | work = opennet.net | access-date = 4 October 2015 | url = https://opennet.net/studies/south-korea2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151222100523/https://opennet.net/studies/south-korea2007 | archive-date = 22 December 2015}} In 2007 and 2008, a significant number of tested North Korean sites remained blocked and blocking was consistent among Internet service providers.{{Cite web | title = South Korea | publisher = OpenNet Initiative | date = 26 December 2010 | access-date = 4 October 2015 | archive-date=6 June 2012 |url=http://opennet.net/research/profiles/south-korea|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120606130645/http://opennet.net/research/profiles/south-korea}}