The fourth episode of Digital Divide examines the rise of servi-cha, North Korea’s semi-private transport vehicles. The spread of cell phones, combined with a nationwide road-based network, has sparked a logistics revolution—enabling real-time coordination among drivers, merchants, brokers, fuel traders, and even checkpoint officials.

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The third episode of Digital Divide focuses on North Korea’s informal marketplaces, known as Jangmadang, and how they function as the backbone of everyday survival and commerce. Drawing on interviews with North Korean defectors, the episode shows how these markets emerged after the collapse of the public distribution system in the 1990s and now operate as a gray zone economy tolerated by the state. Grace and Prof. Kim will highlight the central role of cell phones in enabling trade, information sharing, smuggling, and logistics, as well as how corruption and COVID-19 have shaped daily life and business in one of the world’s most isolated countries.

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🇰🇷 Check out GW Institute for Korean Studies: https://gwiks.elliott.gwu.edu/

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The second episode of Digital Divide focuses on how mobile phones in North Korea provide personal connectivity while reinforcing strict state control. Although their introduction sparked excitement and sacrifice among citizens, phone usage is tightly monitored—with no chat rooms, heavy surveillance, and widespread self-censorship.

So why does the regime even allow cell phones?

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🔑 Check out UniKorea Foundation: https://www.unikoreafoundation.org/unikoreafoundation/

🇰🇷 Check out GW Institute for Korean Studies: https://gwiks.elliott.gwu.edu/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.