The Human Rights Foundation, headquartered in New York, holds such event to generate ideas for hacking and creating, rather than malicious hacking, RFA said.
The foundation invited 100 IT experts to discuss getting information to citizens of the communist country, which bars Internet access.
The term "hackathon" is a compound word of "hack" and "marathon," and indicates attendees will have some time to find innovative ways to break through the North's tight control on Internet and the media.
The two-day event will be held on Aug. 2-3 with North Korean defectors as guests, RFA said. Democracy activist Park Sang-hak, and computer science professor in North Korea Kim Heung-kwang, among others, will share their experiences and present current measures used to spread information, RFA reported.
"Participants will become familiar with the various ways that information and truth are smuggled into North Korea today, and gain an understanding of the technology landscape inside the country," the human rights group noted.
Previously, the foundation succeeded in its effort to spread information by floating large balloons across the border loaded with pro-democracy leaflets, USB drives, transistor radios and DVDs of South Korean soap operas, the foundation noted.