With cell phone subscriptions in the DPRK hitting a milestone of one million users, it is worth looking closer atPyongyang’s motivation to allow such widespread distribution of potentially destabilizing information technology. One plausible explanation is that the North Korean government is balancing its need to make money against the dangers that cell phones pose to its authoritarian control. By limiting the phones’ functionality, it can mitigate the risks of cell phone distribution while still capitalizing on the popularity of the devices.

Popularity with a Price