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NetBlocks confirmed an ongoing disruption to the limited internet connectivity of North Korea.
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More than 40 websites under the .kp domain of North Korea became inaccessible or unstable, including KCNA and Rodong Sinmun.
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The cause remains unknown, but analysts detected nearly six hours of disruption in the BGP routing infrastructure of North Korea.
Network monitoring firm NetBlocks says North Korea is facing an ongoing internet disruption. The incident has cut international access to websites under the .kp domain of the country.
The disruption affects an already limited internet network. It also comes as more than 40 official North Korean websites became unavailable or unstable.
The details of the incident
NetBlocks confirmed the disruption using network data. It says the incident matches the loss of international access to .kp websites. The .kp domain is the national internet domain of North Korea. Government agencies, state media, and official organizations use it for their websites.
According to the reports, over 40 websites with .kp domains were either down or inconsistent in performance on October 20. Among the affected websites are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Korean Central News Agency, and the Rodong Sinmun.
Other websites that experienced downtime are Minju Joson, Naenara, and Air Koryo. These sites are for publishing state news, government information, and other important official details. The disruptions started at 11 a.m. and lasted for eight hours. Although the services regained access later, the disruptions continued on the following day, October 21.
Similarly, Yonhap News Agency of South Korea reported that more than 42 major websites with .kp domains were either down or inconsistent with their performance on October 21. Among the list were the foreign ministry, state media, plus official information websites.
Also, the problem impacted several groups of people from various organizations, foreign governments, researchers & journalists. These groups often rely on official North Korean sites for public statements and policy updates.
The outage did not affect every part of North Korea’s network in the same way. However, it made many official websites hard or impossible to reach from outside the country.
What may have caused it
Network monitoring service Telecom Observer found nearly six hours of disruption in North Korea’s Border Gateway Protocol routing infrastructure. It took place on October 20 and lasted for six hours.
BGP is an important telecommunications protocol that allows interactions between different networks, including internet traffic exchange. This means that a problem with BGP routing will cause other countries not to access the websites within the country.
Furthermore, BGP allows internet networks to find out the best routes by sharing routing information. If there is some disruption in the process, the internet traffic may not reach its destination point correctly.
Analysts say the cause remains unknown. It could be due to a problem with the functioning of equipment, internal restriction, or a third-party attack. Unfortunately, North Korean authorities did not make any explanation for the situation. They have also not said whether they ordered the disruption.
The internet system of the country depends on a small number of external connections. Reports link part of its network to Chinese provider China Unicom through IP addresses connected to Hong Kong-based Cenbong.
This limited setup means one routing problem can affect many official websites at once. It can also make recovery slower. North Korea has few backup connections to the global internet. Therefore, a single fault can create a wide outage across government and media websites.
Why the outage matters
The disruption cut outside access to North Korean state information. People outside the country could not reach major government and media websites.
The affected sites include KCNA and Rodong Sinmun, which contain government statements, news, and political content. The outage also affected the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website – this made it harder for foreign governments and researchers to access official information.
North Korea already restricts internet access for most citizens. Only a small group of officials and approved users can reach the global internet. Most citizens use Kwangmyong, a closed national intranet. It does not connect directly to the global internet.
The latest disruption affects the country’s external connectivity. Thus, it can’t be interpreted as a loss of access by the citizens to the local intranet.
The failure also affects the transparency of information. Notably, researchers, journalists, and governments utilize these sites for monitoring different governmental announcements and public statements. Separately, Russia is investigating an alleged spyware campaign targeting senior government officials, highlighting ongoing cybersecurity concerns surrounding government institutions.
What comes next
Analysts will continue watching BGP routing data and website availability. The experts will check if the current issue persists or is completely over. The incident may have resulted from certain situations – such as a routing failure, a power issue, or a deliberate restriction. However, no authority has confirmed the cause.
Similar outages have happened in North Korea before. Past incidents have involved external attacks, internal power problems, and routing issues. The current case shows how fragile North Korea’s internet connection remains. A single network problem can cut off many official websites from the outside world.
