Best VPNs for North Korea

By Daniel C. — Verified by Sander D. — Last updated: December 1, 2024 — (0)

Table of contents

Using a North Korean IP

North Korean online privacy laws

Internet censorship in North Korea

North Korea is one of the most isolated countries in the world, which makes it no surprise that internet access in the country is also hard to attain. In fact, connecting to or from the country to somewhere else is not an easy task. The state very heavily regulates not only access, but the information online. Most of the people in power’s actions are done on an ideological basis. Though having lived through thousands of historical years, North and South Korea today – countries that still bear the sign of the Cold War and by extension the Second World War – are both restrictive in their approach to the online life. While in the south there is a more conservative attitude, the North is overtaken by its own school of thought.

Editor's choice 2024

Editor's rating:

(4.5)

Intuitive multiplatform apps

Double VPN and P2P support

Plenty of security features

Large VPN network with consistent speeds

Visit NordVPN
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Security

Editor's rating:

(4)

Intuitive multiplatform apps

Double VPN

WireGuard protocol

Outstanding device support

Visit Surfshark
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Multi-device users

Editor's rating:

(4.5)

Unlimited devices

No-log policy

24/7 support

Reliable security tools

Visit IPVanish
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Gaming

Editor's rating:

(4)

Extensive device support

Exceptional speed

Intuitive apps

Convenient extras

Visit ExpressVPN
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Traveling

Editor's rating:

(4.5)

Suitable for all VPN users

Great security features

Seven simultaneous connections

24/7 customer support

Visit CyberGhost VPN
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Streaming

Editor's rating:

(4.5)

24/7 customer service

Competitive price

Good connection speed

Based in Greece

Visit ZoogVPN
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Torrenting

Editor's rating:

(4.5)

Unlimited devices

DNS leak protection

Suitable for all users

Completely customizable

Visit Private Internet Access
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Beginners

Editor's rating:

(4)

Very easy and fun to use

Kill switch and traffic obfuscato

Browser extensions and Chrome blocker

Good speeds

Visit TunnelBear
Reviews

Using a North Korean IP

We owe a thank you to the person known as the “Friendly North Korean Observer”, as his findings provide a great deal of information about the North Korean situation. Among others, we found out that if we think about satellites, Intelsat is the most possible candidate as the supplier. However, data packets also indicate that most of the traffic goes through China Unicom, the neighboring country’s telecommunications company. Since internet access is restricted to areas like internet cafés or certain journalistic offices, the Friendly Observer revealed that next to Red Star OS (the North Korean Linux version) CentOS and even MacBooks are used operating systems. What is even more interesting from the perspective of the people using the internet there is that data reveals Virtual Networks and VMware in the use. Thus, accessing other countries’ internet from North Korea is most possibly done, for whatever reasons.

North Korean online privacy laws

The online legal framework of North Korea is fine tuned to the ideology prevailing in the country – Juche. This means that virtually all other online content that does not show affiliation towards this thought is either heavily regulated or not allowed at all inside North Korean borders. Given the nature of this ideology, the laws suggest a highly patriarchal state of online content, where barely anything associated with other countries is available. Very few IP addresses exist for North Korea outside their own network. Therefore, trying to access those (and not the global IP addresses of the country) is not advised by any means.

Internet censorship in North Korea

North Korean citizens do not have access to the global internet. Instead, they can only use the country’s own network, called Kwangmyong. As opposed to the billions of domains elsewhere, there are only a couple of thousand websites in North Korea altogether. Therefore we conclude that censorship is among the most extensive in the world in North Korea and thus, internet freedom is similarly horrible. All areas of knowledge – from philosophy to economics and beyond – is regulated by the state.

Streaming services in North Korea

As a consequence of North Korea having its own strictly limited version of the internet, the streaming services of any other country are not available in North Korea. Furthermore, since most of the online content of the country is restricted to its territory, the only credible source of accessing North Korean television is through people who have defected the state. The site Korean Central TV Stream is a good example of this activity. In order to access content providers from elsewhere in the world such as Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime, it’s indispensable to use a VPN service that is successful in bypassing the restrictions of internet access in North Korea while unblocking the content in a fast and easy manner.

Free North Korean VPN trials

For the above reasons, North Korea does not have any VPN services allowed within its borders. Therefore, if you are interested in connecting to North Korea or connecting to somewhere else from North Korea, we suggest some alternatives. Mobile phones are a way to access North Korean domains for outsiders through 3G. As mentioned before, Virtual Networking or VMware and other virtual networking tools and solutions (might) be another possibility, while some VPN providers may at certain times be able to unblock content for users residing within North Korean borders.

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Best VPNs for North Korea

Using a North Korean IP

North Korean online privacy laws

Internet censorship in North Korea

Streaming services in North Korea

Free North Korean VPN trials

Why you can trust us

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