How Widespread is Mobile Phone Use in North Korea?

The English online version of The Chosun Ilbo this morning has a short, but fascinating article, entitled "How Widespread is Mobile Phone Use in North Korea?"  As readers of this blog will know, I've been following not only the extent of mobile phone usage in North Korea, but also its implications, in posts over the past several years.  According to The Chosun Ilbo article, the mobile phone penetration rate in North Korea is only about 1.3 percent, far lower than South Korea's 103.9 percent, but the average usage time amounts to 300 minutes, more or less the level of South Korea's. Hwang Sung-jin of the Korea Information Society Development Institute, said this is because of brisk usage among high-ranking North Korean officials.  The article also quotes Suk Ho-ick of KT, the chairman of the IT Unification Forum, on North Korea's efforts to control the use of mobile phones.