Sneak Peek into North Korea's Supervised Smartphone World
Unique Features of North Korean Mobile Devices Revealed
Feeling curious about how North Korea's dictatorship keeps a close eye on its citizens through smartphone use? A clandestine device smuggled from the secluded country offers some insights on the tactics employed to monitor and manipulate its population.
Caught Red-Handed: The Samtaesong 8?
The smartphone, as observed in a BBC video, might be a Samtaesong 8—looking somewhat like older Samsung and Huawei phones with a curved display and likely powered by a modified Android operating system.
Fun Fact: The name "Samtaesong" refers to the "three shining stars," a tribute to the alleged heroic resistance of Kim Il-sung, his wife Kim Jong-suk, and his son Kim Jong-il during the Japanese occupation of Korea 1.
Instructive Auto-correct: The Government's Silent Enforcer
Besides its ordinary look, the device has some peculiarities. The keyboard, for instance, comes with a very peculiar auto-correct function. Typing "South Korea" automatically changes it to "puppet state" 2. Similarly, "oppa" (a term that means "older brother" in Korean but is used for a boyfriend in South Korea) triggers the smartphone to change it to "comrade" to align with Pyongyang's ideology. The device also displays a warning stating that "oppa" should only be used for older siblings 2.
Snapchat Cycles: Big Brother Always Watches
Although the auto-correct feature may seem amusing, it pales in comparison to the smartphone's real party trick: taking screenshots every five minutes 2. All these images are stored within a password-protected folder likely accessible to the North Korean authorities. With these snapshots, they can check whether South Korean media has been accessed on the device 2.
The Ruler's Modern Device: Kim Jong-un's Secret Stash
Interestingly, Kim Jong-un, the ruler of North Korea, probably doesn't rely on North Korean smartphones. A photo from 2023 depicts him using a foldable smartphone similar to the Samsung Galaxy Flip—a South Korean device—or a Chinese smartphone, during a rocket test 3.
Sources: bbc.com, kwe.de
- North Korea
- Smartphones
- In the realm of general-news and politics, it's revealed that North Korea's community policy extends to smartphones, with devices like the Samtaesong 8 featuring an auto-correct function that encourages alignment with the country's ideology.
- The energy consumed in North Korean politics is further highlighted by the revelation that smartphones in the community are equipped with features that allow constant surveillance, such as taking screenshots every five minutes for potential monitoring by the authorities.
