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This article was published on August 12, 2013

Top North Korea news site launches $10k fundraiser to beat the country’s information block


Top North Korea news site launches $10k fundraiser to beat the country’s information block

Things have begun to open up in North Korea over the past year or so, most notably after foreigners got access to 3G, but still news from the country is driven by a select bunch of organizations, excluding the propaganda machines, of course. One such news organization, Daily NK, has taken to fundraising platform Indiegogo in its quest to “amplify the North Korea info flow.”

Daily NK regularly unearths news that ends up in mainstream global press — it has a partnership with Bloomberg, while The Atlantic calls it “North Korea’s digital underground” — and the team is seeking to raise $10,000 to ramp up its operations.

The publication says it has undercover journalists on the ground in North Korea, while an office of staff in Seoul, South Korea, and a global network of interns and contributors drive the site.

“We want to be there to deliver news the most effective way possible — and we need your support,” its Indiegogo page reads.

The $10,000 will go towards revamping its website with a responsive design, which will optimize it across all devices (in the same way that our site here at TNW is), which it says will enable it to deliver news in Korean, Japanese, English and Chinese to more people worldwide.

In addition, the funding will help fortify the site against regular hacking attempts made on it from locations in North Korea and China.

In a world where Internet access is helps to spread information and connect people in ways that were not possible even just a few years ago, the Daily NK and its work is at the forefront of breaking barriers and boundaries. We hope it can reach the target (and beyond) to further open up the secretive world of North Korea.

➤ Project Daily NK: Amplify the North Korea Info Flow [Indiegogo] | Daily NK (English version)

Headline image via Shutterstock

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