The government has asked domestic Internet service providers to block citizens access to a North Korean Twitter account because it breaches the national security laws.

The decision was made Thursday by the Communications Standards Commission to stem the rapid increase of subscriptions by South Korean nationals.

A page that warns of illegal material popped up when an attempt to access http://twitter.com/uriminzok was made. A similar page shows up if one tries to enter Web pages showing North Korea‘s propaganda material.

The block is seen as a confirmation that Seoul considers the North Korean Twitter page as being related to Pyongyang. A call asking for comment from an Internet watchdog official was not immediately returned. Seoul has been reluctant to conclude that North Korea is behind the account that opened last week.

At least 8,700 subscribers were “following” the North Korean Twitter account when the page was last accessed earlier Thursday.

South Korea allows its nationals to view online propaganda material posted by North Korea if they gain government clearance.

South Korean authorities had been blocking Web pages that could be accessed through links posted on the North’s Twitter account.

Earlier in the day, an official at the Korea Communications Commission, a watchdog, said North Korea was altering the online addresses of the pages to bypass Seoul’s block.

North Korea appears to be expanding its propaganda warfare as South Korea and the United States step up their pressure on Pyongyang to admit to its wrongdoing and open up for dialogue.

Last month, Pyongyang opened an account with the global video-sharing site YouTube and started uploading clips that ridicule senior officials in Seoul and Washington.

On Wednesday, South Korea warned its citizens that it may be considered illegal to interact with the North Korean Twitter account, apparently calling on them to refrain from reposting, or “retweeting,” the messages.



From news reports