Rodong Sinmun
On recent advances reported out of China in quantum computing (QC) and the news on the Chinese government’s investment in the multibillion-dollar National Laboratory for Quantum Information Sciences in Hefei, Anhui province, its neighbour, North Korea — the small, isolated Communist country, led by an overweight man-child with a penchant for poisoning siblings, starving the peasant population of his country and believing his nuclear weapons’ program is a successful counterweight to the West’s continual threats — has started promoting quantum computing technology within the country.
Whether the news — sourced from the Korean Workers’ Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun — is reliable or not, it just goes to prove how much of an effect QC is having around the globe with governments.
There’s no doubt the Rodong Sinmun is just a mouthpiece for Kim Jong-un. Whatever is published in the country goes through him. Like from the Norwegian hard rock band’s song Your Word Is Law, whatever fleeting proclamations or ideas he has, they could change at a whim.
With its rivals, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia already with state-sponsored QC programs and startups boosting the economies of those said countries, Kim Jong-un could see not acting as a sign of weakness.
In changing times, a computer’s renewal, improvements in information processing capacity, is pushing out humanity. More than a few countries are bearing the demands of the age and are actively pursuing the development of quantum computing.
— Rodong Sinmun
If North Korea’s nuclear program is anything to go by, it could also signal a full-blown initiation to get the country up and running in quantum hardware and information systems.
North Korea, as claimed in a report conducted by a panel of experts reporting to the UN Security Council, has stockpiled hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin through hacking. This in itself is no surprise.
But what does it tell us?
It tells us North Korea isn’t as keen on isolation as it makes out. To compete in the world, in a technological sense at least, it needs to get on board and invest — and at the very minimum invest/plunder — its way in hard tech. Its acceptance that Bitcoin is a bonafide currency bodes well for how it sees quantum computing as a viable option in the future for its industrial and military capabilities.
‘Science and technology are a propellant for building a thriving country, and the happiness of the people and the future of the country hinge on their development.’
— Kim Jong-un
