In August 2018,
Choson Sinbo reported that the Chunggu Haeyang (Marine) Unha Technology Exchange Company which is under
DPRK's Central Information Agency for Science and Technology had developed a local public free
wireless data network named as "Mirae" network. A technician at the company told the newspaper that the company had developed the network back in 2016, and that it launched the WiFi network in September 2017. The first broadcast in which it was seen was on 21 October 2018, about a new tablet: Daeyang 8321 (대양8321). This was the first time that an outdoor Wi-Fi service had been mentioned in North Korean media. The second broadcast in which it was seen was on 8 November 2018: a report on the "Exhibition of IT Successes". It displayed Mirae network being accessed by an
Arirang 171 smartphone. The TV report claimed that network have data speed of up to 70
Mbps. However, an app for the service claims speeds between 2 Mbps and 33 Mbps. It also showcased how service was made available through outdoor Wi-Fi base stations. On 26 October 2020 the Facebook page of the
Russian Embassy in
Pyongyang shared a scan of an article from the locally-distributed
Pyongyang Sinmun. It showed the capabilities of "Naenara 101" ("My Country 101"). It had slots for two
SIM cards, so it can be used to connect simultaneously to the mobile network and the public wireless network Mirae. In 2023, it was claimed that every one out of five North Koreans or 20% of population are users of the country's Wi-Fi network. This is due to portable Wi-Fi devices and
Wi-Fi modems provided by North Korea. == Uses and impact ==