North Korea’s “My Companion” website is popular among consumers because it is being frequently updated and its content can be viewed across various devices, Daily NK has learned.
“Various kinds of people use My Companion, including travelers, housewives, children and students,” a reporting partner in North Korea told Daily NK on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. “Two out of 10 households in agricultural villages or mountain towns use it, as do four out of 10 households in major cities.
“In the old days, it had only very old movies, but starting in the early months of this year, the website now has a section introducing movies of interest to various age groups. That has made it easier to find films,” he said. “One or two new short skits [sitcoms] come out a month, and right now, the film ‘Memoirs of a Prosecutor’ and foreign film ‘Tom and Jerry’ are most popular.”
In the past, the website would get a makeover every one or two years, but recently, it has been getting a remodel — including new background images — every six months, according to the reporting partner.
North Korea unveiled “My Companion” in 2019, promoting it as a place to easily find and watch movies. The website appears to have expanded its user base as developers later improved the website, along with developing a mobile app. In fact, the Rodong Sinmun reported the release of “My Companion 2.0” on Feb. 18, noting that users can now watch films in HD.
Based on the reporting partner’s account, North Koreans general prefer to download content rather than stream it.
“The most common thing people do is download the content to their mobile phones for viewing later,” he said. “It’s no big deal to download movies, but it costs a lot of mobile money to stream them through the website.”
Netflix recommends speeds of 3 Mbps and 5 Mbps to watch HD (720p) and full HD (1080p) content. North Korea has a 3G mobile environment, which means that data transfer speeds are estimated at just 1 Mbps. This suggests that North Korean consumers would need to spend a significant amount of money to stream if they do not have an unlimited data plan or flat-rate plan.
Even setting aside the costs involved, North Korea’s mobile telecommunications network presents difficulties for users to steam content, so people prefer to watch films after downloading them first.
“The most common method is to download them at home through the intranet, and then watch them on a desktop or notebook computer, tablet or mobile phone,” said the reporting partner. “This way, you don’t pay anything beyond your intranet bill of KPW 20,000 a month.”
If not, users can download films one-by-one through their smartphones, which would require them to pay for each film separately. This means that users would need to pay USD 2 to download a single 15-minute sitcom, and USD 5 for one episode in a drama series, the reporting partner said.
In the case of dramas, people can download the entire series at one time. They can pay the entire fee at once, or download it at a discounted price of USD 4.50 an episode.
“To pay, you need to use electronic verification,” the reporting partner said. “You must enter your name, date of birth, sex and address, and you can pay with a card or with mobile money.”
In short, if North Koreans download a movie from the website through a wired network, they do not have to pay extra costs, but downloading a film through a mobile phone incurs additional costs.
“Homes with access to the state’s intranet only have to pay the intranet fee, meaning there’s not much in the way of costs,” the reporting partner said. “Intranet installation fees have doubled or tripled now compared to the past, so people who installed it early made a windfall.”
According to the reporting partner, the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers’ Party supervises the selection of content to release on the site.
“They review it on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis to create a nationwide distribution network for arts and culture and movies. Technical matters are handled by the Digital Activities Research Center in Pyongyang in cooperation with regional branches, while the Telecommunications Bureau in Pyongyang and regional post offices handle wired and wireless mobile communications, intranet installation services and other matters. All these agencies work together.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of reporting partners who live inside North Korea. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
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