A PHONE smuggled out of North Korea reveals just how far Kim Jong-Un’s regime goes to control citizens.
The seemingly ordinary device even takes screenshots, tracking and recording the user’s every move, a BBC investigation has revealed.
BBC NewsThe BBC got hold of a phone smuggled out of North Korea[/caption] BBC NewsThe phone runs software that snaps automatic screenshots every five minutes, storing them in a hidden folder only the regime can access[/caption] BBC NewsTyping ‘South Korea’ on the phone automatically changes to ‘puppet state’[/caption]The software takes automatic screenshots every five minutes, storing them in a hidden folder only accessible to authorities.
This allows North Korea’s ‘youth crackdown squads’ to monitor and punish anyone searching for banned information or speaking out against the regime.
The phone also prevents the user from typing certain South Korean terms, the BBC found.
If the user types the word for South Korea, ‘Nampan’, this is automatically edited to ‘puppet state’ – the North Korean government’s term for South Korea.
The South Korean word ‘oppa’, which literally means ‘big brother’ but is also used as a slang term for ‘boyfriend’, is automatically replaced by the word for ‘comrade’.
After replacing the word, the phone flashes a big brother-style warning, reading: “This word can only be used to describe your siblings.”
The phone was smuggled out of the country in late 2024 by the news organisation Daily NK.
North Korean authorities have repeatedly cracked down on users of Chinese-made mobile phones, with hundreds of people arrested in 2021, according to Daily NK.
“Smartphones are now part and parcel of the way North Korea tries to indoctrinate people,” Martyn Williams, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Stimson Center, told the BBC.
North Korea tightly controls all media – newspapers, radio, TV – and blocks access to the global internet, keeping information firmly in state hands.
AFPThe country has been ruled by the Kim family since its founding in 1948 and is consistently ranked among the worst in the world for human rights[/caption]Williams explained: “The reason for this control is that so much of the mythology around the Kim family is made up. A lot of what they tell people is lies.”
Due to blocked internet access, most people are limited to a closed intranet called Kwangmyong.
Accessing foreign news, TV shows, or radio (especially from South Korea) is illegal and punishable by prison.
Possessing or spreading unauthorized media, like South Korean dramas, can also lead to harsh penalties.
The regime is also known for imposing harsh punishments for minor infractions, like falling asleep during rallies attended by Kim.
It comes as an expert told The Sun that North Korean officials face being shot over a recent warship disaster.
The 5,000-ton naval destroyer ended up on its side in what Kim Jong-un slammed as a “criminal act”.
APA South Korean soldier, left, undergoes an experience on what it is like to be held in a North Korean cell at the Korean War exhibition in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 7, 2010. North Korea sent nearly three dozen relatives of former economic officials to a prison camp over the country’s botched currency reform, […][/caption] Read More Details
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