Russia provides new Internet connection for North Korea

Martyn Williams of 38North highlights a very interesting development in his latest post.   He reports that "A major Russian telecommunications company appears to have begun providing an Internet connection to North Korea. The new link supplements one from China and will provide back-up to Pyongyang at a time the US government is reportedly attacking its Internet infrastructure and pressuring China to end all business with North Korea.The connection, from TransTeleCom, began appearing in Internet routing databases at 09:08 UTC on Sunday, or around 17:38 Pyongyang time on Sunday evening. Internet routing databases map the thousands of connections between telecom providers and enable computers to figure out the best route to a destination."  Prior to this, Internet users in North Korea were all funneled through a China Unicom Link.
As shown on the accompanying graphic (click for a full size version) TransTeleCom's fiber network extends right up to its border with North Korea.  The significance of this development lies in the context of current efforts by the United Nations and the international community to sanction and economically isolate North Korea.