North Korea faces severe internet outage, raising concerns about internal issues

On Saturday, June 7, 2025, North Korea's internet infrastructure underwent a significant disruption that rendered government websites and online services inaccessible for several hours. This outage affected not only domestic usage but also connections through both China and Russia, suggesting that it may stem from internal technical issues rather than an external cyberattack. Websites that provide official news and services, including the foreign ministry and national airline, were notably offline before beginning to regain functionality later in the day. Research conducted by experts monitoring North Korea's internet infrastructure indicated that the total collapse of the country’s online activities was alarming. By midday on June 7, some services began to return, but the root cause remained unclear at that moment. Analysts pointed out that this instance could be classified differently than previous outages, which were often attributed to cyberattacks, as this disruption showed evidence of broader connectivity issues. Julian Ali, a researcher based in the UK, mentioned that it was challenging to determine if the outage was intentional or accidental. The current assessment leans towards it being an internal cause. The Cellular Cyber Terror Response Center in South Korea, responsible for monitoring North Korea’s cyber activities, could not be reached for comments to provide further insights into the situation. The lack of access to the internet reflects North Korea's tightly controlled systems and the reality that only a small elite within the government has access to the broader internet. The general public is limited to a heavily curated intranet that serves the interests of the state. Previous instances of internet outages in North Korea were often linked to suspected cyberattacks, with groups like the Lazarus hacking team rumored to be conducting operations targeting foreign entities. However, no evidence currently links external actors to this recent event, leaving many questions unanswered about the health of the country's internet infrastructure and the implications for its governance.