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Google Earth Probing North Korea Military
David Utter
Staff Writer
2006-07-19
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Naval vessels and military installations in North Korea have been chronicled by Google Earth, and its community of users has been combing over and identifying the various images picked up by the program.
 | | Google Earth Users Find Military Items |  |
Since North Korea has little contact with the rest of the world, it hasn't asked Google to obscure sensitive images from Google Earth as other countries have. That has proved to be a treasure trove of information about North Korea's military.
The Boing Boing blog referenced a story at Radio Open Source, which discussed the topic of North Korea and how Google Earth users have been reviewing various items of a military nature they find:
In fact, there are several military and intelligence employees, some retired and some active, who turn the defense job into a hobby, helping to point out and explain foreign military curiosities at the very civilian level of Google Earth. One current imagery analyst explained that, though he never divulges classified information, he often ‘identifies naval vessels at' bases that ordinary Google Earth explorers have stumbled upon.
Among the findings have been North Korean naval bases, a missile test site, and what could be a functional air base hidden behind a mountain, the article said. All may be viewed by Google Earth users.
Although North Korea has not expressed complaints about Google Earth, at least as far as it publicly known, other countries have. A report at NewsFactor listed Australia, India, Israel, the Netherlands, South Korea, Thailand, and the United Kingdom among those nations whose politicians believe Google Earth could be of great use to terrorists and hostile governments.
The report cited GlobalSecurity.org director John Pike, who refuted those complaints. He noted that imagery like that in Google Earth can already be found in other places, including other satellite image providers.
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Tag: Google Earth
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About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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