by REERA YOO | @reeraboo
editor@charactermedia.com
It’s no Amazon or Gmarket, but North Korea has finally launched an online shopping website—despite the fact that the vast majority of the country lack the technology to access it.
The state-run website Okryu, aimed primarily at smartphone users, offers a range of products, including food, medicine, cosmetics, furniture and clothes, according to the KCNA. Customers can pay with e-money cards that are processed through the main North Korean debit card system. Only local currency is accepted as payment.
Okryu is managed by the General Bureau of Public Service, which oversees restaurants, shops and producers of consumer goods in North Korea, according to the Associated Press. The site has been running since last month.
Although KCNA states that the site is “aimed at promoting convenience for the people,” it’s unclear just how many North Koreans will actually be able to use it, as Internet access is extremely limited outside elite circles. Some can access the country’s free but strictly domestic intranet, Kwangmyong, via their mobile phones. Computers, however, require government approval and cost as much as three months’ salary for an average North Korean worker, according to Business Insider.
Even with intranet access, North Koreans can only view a very limited number of websites, such as the state news agency, the ruling party newspaper, a TV show download site and a local science and technology site called “Hot Wind.”
It’s impossible to determine how popular Okryu is or if the average North Korean shopper even knows about its existence. During a demonstration for AP, the bureau showed reporters how to make a purchase on the site, but did not reveal how or when goods are delivered. It also did not announce any statistics about page views, unique users or sales volumes.
Despite the site’s limitations, experts claim that Okryu is a sign that North Korea has ugraded its IT systems and no longer considers technology to be a threat to its rigid social order.
“While it is questionable how accessible [the website] is to regular people, North Korea can easily manage an online shopping mall with its technology,” Hong Soon-jik, a North Korean economy expert, told the Joongang Ilbo. “North Korea can no longer block the market economy completely and is responding in its own way.”
Foreigners, including tourists visiting the country, are prohibited from using the North Korean e-commerce site.
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Featured image via Inquirer.net
