North Korea

South Korean police reported Thursday that over 30 North Korean hackers were recruited to work in China by a South Korean criminal ring. The hackers stole personal data of South Korean gamers and transferred $5 million to North Korea.

Seoul blamed North Korea for distributing malicious software to paralyze web sites of government agencies and businesses as well as orchestrating a cyber attack on a South Korean bank this year that brought down its network.

Last week we reported that North Korean government established an account with Facebook. However, the social networking giant deleted the account on Friday on the grounds it had violated the website’s terms of use.

As we said last week the account was set by Uriminzokkiri, a Web site that provides Korean-language news and propaganda from North Korea's central news agency. The group appeared on Thursday and carried links to articles on the Uriminzokkiri Web site and videos on the site's YouTube channel. But on Friday Facebook blocked the account.

North Korean move to join Twitter was welcomed by the US government who also called upon the insular nation to let its citizens also see the recently opened account and access the web at all.

"We use Twitter to connect, to inform, and to debate. We welcome North Korea to Twitter and the networked world," wrote Philip Crowley, a state department spokesman on his Twitter account.

North Korea’s only 3G wireless operator Koryolink recorded increase in its sales in the first three months of the current year as a result of expanded network coverage and continued demand for its service.

As reported by Orascom Telecom, Egyptian company that owns 75% of Koryolink, at the end of March North Korean wireless carrier had 125,661 subscribers, a gain just under 34,000 subscribers over the quarter.