North Korea Accidentally Revealed It Only Has 28 Websites

Quick, name 28 websites!

Student Edge, obviously, was the first that came to mind, right? Next: Facebook. Twitter. Google. YouTube. Tumblr. Wikipedia.

We’ll stop at seven, even though we’re really just scratching the surface of your internet experience.

And yet, seven websites amount to one quarter of all the websites allowed in North Korea. And if you think those aforementioned sites are among those accessible to its citizens, you are grossly mistaken. (Sorry: Student Edge is yet to launch in North Korea. Someday?)

The reveal that North Korea only has 28 websites to its name was an accidental one, when a top-level nameserver incorrectly shared the entire list of domain names ending with .kp.

This means there are fewer North Korean websites than songs on The Beatles’ White Album. Hell, there are fewer .kp websites than members of The Polyphonic Spree.

According to The Guardian, most of the sites belong to official bodies and state news organisations. Others share information about North Korean movies and food. (Side note: The Pyongyang International Film Festival sounds lit.)

Though North Korea’s websites are mostly inaccessible to those beyond its borders, Gizmodo shared some screencaps of its registered sites. They’re distinctly 1998-esque.

We’d say, “Yeah, nice internet, Kim Jong-un” but he recently outlawed sarcasm, so…

That said, though it’s tempting to mock North Korea for its lacklustre web capabilities (no Frinkiac?), this revelation is a reminder that its citizens are supremely limited in their reach to the outside world, which is surely in direct contrast to the ethos of the internet. And with Kim Jong-un becoming more brazen with nuclear testing, this all gets less funny by the day.

Photo: iStock.