SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to launch an open source center on North Korea next month that will provide consolidated information on the isolated communist country, an official said Thursday.

   The Open Source Center is designed to collect foreign information made public by media reports, press releases and announcements by international organizations, said the official at the Unification Ministry.

   The ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, has hired three experts in English, Chinese and Japanese, and plans to recruit three more experts in English and Russian.

   The ministry plans to restrict the center to its employees for the time being before allowing access by ordinary citizens.

   The ministry has been working to build a database of the North's geography and officials as well as various information.

   Separately, the National Intelligence Service, Seoul's top spy agency, currently provides basic information on North Korea on its Web site.

   North Korea largely remains an intelligence black hole, as the isolated country keeps a tight lid on almost all information and denies its people access to the outside world.

   Still, the wall of secrecy has begun to crack as some North Koreans near the border with China are believed to be using Chinese mobile phones to keep in touch with their relatives and friends in South Korea and China.

   Some North Korean defectors and activists in the South glean information and intelligence on the North through limited communication and interactions with North Koreans.

   entropy@yna.co.kr
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