North Korea’s Future Network WI-FI maximum speed is 33Mbps. How does it compare to Korea?

The speed of the Wi-Fi network operated in North Korea was found to be about 10 times lower than that of South Korea.

Daily NK recently obtained the Wi-Fi application (app) ‘Mirai’ being used in North Korea. The initial screen of the app states, “Future is a public wireless data communication network, our own wireless data communication service using WI-FI technology,” and “Transmission speed The description states, “Minimum 2Mbps, maximum 33Mbps.”

According to the ‘2024 Communication Service Coverage Inspection and Quality Evaluation Results’ announced by the Ministry of Science and ICT of Korea on the 30th of last month, the average download speeds of Korea’s commercial, open, and public Wi-Fi are 374.89Mbps, 415.02Mbps, and 463.55Mbps, respectively.

In comparison, North Korea’s Mirae Network Wi-Fi speed is significantly lower than that of South Korea. North Korea’s Wi-Fi speed is capable of general web surfing and simple data transfers, but appears to have limitations in high-definition video streaming or large file transfers.

In 2018, North Korea announced that it was possible to access the national network through the smartphone app ‘Future Public Wireless Data Network’. It is possible that no improvements in technology or equipment have been made since 2018.

In addition, it was discovered that North Korean residents can access the Korean Central News Agency through the Mirae Network.

The app says, “Users who subscribe to the future public wireless data communication network can access websites (homepages) including Gongsae, Korean Central News Agency, Science and Technology Center, and Craze at any time from any place in the future public wireless data network area to create new “You can view news and scientific and technological data, and download large-capacity multimedia materials, including movies and songs, at high speed.”

Among the websites accessible through the Mirae Network, it is noteworthy that the Korean Central News Agency, known for external use, is included. We cannot rule out the possibility that North Korea operates a separate internal website that citizens can access, or that it is not a website for external use in the first place.

The IP addresses for external access to the Korean Central News Agency are 175.45.177.1 and 175.45.176.71, and the IP address for internal access is 10.99.0.50.

In addition, Mirae Network appears to be able to access the website of the Korean Central Broadcasting Commission, an organization that plans and manages all broadcasting work in North Korea.

Article 11 of North Korea’s Broadcasting Act states, “The Korean Central Broadcasting Committee is a central broadcasting institution representing the nation’s broadcasting,” and “The Korean Central Broadcasting Committee directly organizes and operates wavelength-specific sound broadcasting, wired sound broadcasting, wireless and wired TV broadcasting, and internet broadcasting, and provides local broadcasting services.” It is clearly stated that “we guide the broadcasting business of broadcasting organizations.”

Meanwhile, this report reported in 2022 that Mirae Network is very popular among North Korean residents, and that some residents are using the app in illegal ways. (See related article: North Korea Wi-Fi service ‘Mire Network’ is popular… illegal users to ‘headache’)