North Korea: North Korea

North Korea Dept: For years, North Korea required visitors to relinquish foreign cellphones at the border until their departure, leaving most tourists without a way to communicate with the outside world, according to Montreal Gazette. Now, foreigners can bring qualifying phones into the country and purchase a SIM card for use in North Korea, or rent a handset with a SIM card that allows them to call most foreign countries, foreign embassies in Pyongyang and international hotels in the North Korean capital, according to 3G cellphone service provider Koryolink and pYONGYANG, North Korea - North Korea is loosening some restrictions on foreign cellphones by allowing visitors to bring their own phones into the country. However, security regulations still prohibit mobile phone calls between foreigners and locals. The ritual of handing over phones was part of an exhaustive security check that most visitors face at immigration in North Korea. Many visitors including Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, who travelled to North Korea earlier this month choose to leave their phones behind in Beijing before flying to Pyongyang. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.