[community] Tor usage in North Korea as a foreigner

Gabriel Sandor gabi.t.sandor at gmail.com
Thu Aug 29 14:12:47 UTC 2019


Hi Kate,

Thank you for your view on this matter.

Is there a source claiming Tor is so frowned-upon in North Korea?

Otto Warmbier is a different case, he was accused of stealing posters, not
cyber crimes or using unauthorized software.

Either way, it's indeed a risk that should not be taken lightly.

Best regards,
Gabriel

On Thu, Aug 29, 2019 at 12:51 AM Kate Krauss <ailanthus at riseup.net> wrote:

>
> >
> > I intend to bring my own laptop and a USB stick from which i will boot
> > the TAILS OS.
>
> Hi Gabriel,
>
> Just one person's view:
>
> Consider the benefit vs the risk:
>
> Benefit: You'll get uncensored and private Internet in North Korea
> (although outside actors will be able to see that you are using Tor).
>
> The risk, though, is that you will be detained in North Korea for an
> unspecified amount of time. I'm sure you are familiar with the case of
> Otto Warmbier [0]. North Korea has a pattern of detaining harmless
> tourists and using them as political pawns. It's less a question of your
> actions than just your presence on the scene. Illegal actions are
> whatever the government says they are.
>
> Note that the US govt is advising US nationals (not saying you are one,
> but fyi) not to travel to North Korea at all due to "risk of arrest and
> longterm detention of US nationals[1]. Also, NGOs use USB drives to
> smuggle political propaganda into North Korea, increasing the likelihood
> that a USB will receive extra attention from the authorities.
>
> If I were you, I would not do this.
>
> Cheers,
>
> ailanthus
>
> [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Warmbier
> [1]
>
> https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/north-korea-travel-advisory.html
>
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