A mobile phone service has been launched in North Korea, one of the world’s most secretive and tightly controlled states, the official news agency has reported. The Egyptian telecom giant Orascom announced in January that it would invest US$400 million in North Korea.
North Korea first experimented with mobile phones in 2002, but recalled the handsets 18 months later after a mysterious train explosion that killed an estimated 160 people. Some experts argue that officials feared the incident was an attempt to assassinate the regime’s “dear leader”, Kim Jong-il, and that mobile phones were involved.