.kp

.kp

Introduced	2007
TLD type	Country code top-level domain
Status	Active
Registry
Sponsor	Korea Computer Center
Intended use	Entities connected with  North Korea
Actual use	Hardly used at present, restricted to government entities.
Registration restrictions	Not yet available for registration
Documents
Dispute policies
Website	http://www.kcce.kp/

.kp is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). It was created on September 24, 2007.^[1]

Usage

As of 2008, there are two known sites active in this domain. The IP addresses for both of these sites resolve to Internet Provider Berlin in the German capital.

• The Korea Computer Center (Europe) at http://kcce.kp/, which contains a number of pages about the organization, in German, and http://www.kcce.kp, which displays a simple message stating that .kp domain registration will be available soon.
• A copy of the official North Korean governmental portal Naenara at http://www.naenara.kp (also available at http://www.kcckp.net).

Internet in North Korea

North Korea has no private Internet service providers.

According to national leader Kim Jong-Il, "I'm an Internet expert too. It's all right to wire the industrial zone only, but there are many problems if other regions of the North are wired." ^[2]

Access is rare and limited; Reporters Without Borders once described the nation as "the world’s worst Internet black hole"^[3] as "Internet officially does not exist in the world’s most isolated country, but a handful of privileged people are allowed to go online through the phone system (which is routed through China) or via satellite." ^[4]

The government's own sites are not in the .kp domain and all are hosted outside Korea; the korea-dpr.com address, operated by the Korea Friendship Association for the government, resolves to DINAHOSTING, a Spanish provider, and the IP location is Germany.^[5]

See also

• Communications in North Korea
• Internet censorship
• List of Korea-related topics

References

External links

• IANA .kp whois information
• ICANN 2007 announcement of a request to delegate .kp domain