• E-mail usage is heavily restricted in North Korea.north korea flag button image by Andrey Zyk from Fotolia.com
  
  North Korea does not officially disclose its e-mail monitoring laws though evidence indicates that online surveillance is permitted and likely widespread. Note that only a tiny segment of the entire population has access to a computer, let alone Internet access. While the nation has slowly come online in recent years, its network is confined to communications within its own borders.
  
  

North Korean Constitutional Law

• In theory, the North Korean constitution allows for an independent judiciary and fair trials. For instance, Article 67 of North Korea's Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and of the press. However, the U.S. State Department notes extrajudicial actions and violations of basic human freedoms are common. In that regard, North Korea may not have created specific statutes regulating the monitoring of e-mail but the point is moot. The National Security Bureau (North Korea's secret police force) can and will monitor e-mail regardless of the written law.
  
  

Crimes Against The Revolution

• North Korea has a draconian penal code that stipulates capital punishment and confiscation of assets for a wide variety of "crimes against the revolution." Offenses include writing "reactionary" letters and possessing "reactionary" printed matter, both of which could be committed via e-mail. A growing number of citizens are able to access the Internet and send e-mails via mobile phones purchased on the black market. Regardless of the communications made on these devices, possession itself is against the law. Not long ago, a North Korean man was executed by firing squad for violating this law.
  
  

Kim Jong-Il's E-mail Account

• Though little is known about e-mail communications in North Korea, one e-mail address can be verified. Back in 2000, Secretary of State, Madeleine K. Albright, told Kim Jong-Il that he "could pick up the telephone any time" to which he replied "please give me your e-mail address." As the head of state in North Korea, he may be one of the North Koreans whose e-mail usage is not monitored. The "New York Times" also states that a handful of government elites have international access to the Internet via a pipeline in China but, in their case, communications are "almost certainly filtered, monitored and logged."