The secrecy surrounding the North Korean nation extends to all areas of its citizens’ daily lives, including consumer technology, as well as smartphones. After discovering the mysterious melody that sounds every morning and that app stores are physical, we studied what smartphones look like.
Samsung and Xiaomi are not sold there, much less a Google Pixel: North Korea monitors every step that concerns citizens and smartphones are not left out. They are pretty expensive despite the small fleet available and have a special operating system.
North Korea doesn’t trust Google
As we read in Daily NK, in its English version, smartphones sold within the borders of the North Korean nation are not exactly cheap: smartphones from the few companies that operate They cost up to $1,000.
The North Korean leader in a photo showing a foldable smartphone. Image from KNCA
Which models are successful in Kim Jong-un’s country? More precisely three: Chongsong 234, Chongsong 222 and Samtaesong 8. The first two were presented last year at a national fair; the latter was presented on Korean Central Television (KCTV), the only channel admitted by the government.
According to the source, the Chongsong 234 costs around $690 in exchange, while the Chongsong 222 costs around $525. The third model outperforms the previous ones, “it costs 6,800 yuan”, which amounts to the same: 860 dollars. We said they’re popular and that’s it “around two people in 10 use them”the rest of the population has cheaper ones.
This is curious to say the least, because according to the country’s economic indicators, GDP per capita is 1.43 million won, or the equivalent of $1,060. It is therefore possible that the wealthier citizens
On the other hand, considering the three models mentioned which are popular, North Korea launches up to 60 smartphones, and intends to continue to develop new ones. Currently, an increase in the number of users is expected when the country begins to fully release 4G networks.
How many millions of users are we talking about? Depending on the source, they vary between 6.5 million and 7 million mobile subscriberswith a 2022 report from 38 North and the Stimson Center.
Of course, the use of smartphones In North Korea, it doesn’t differ much from what we do in the rest of the world: they mainly use them for playing and socializing. “When people use smartphones, they use them 40% of the time for communicating, 30% of the time for gaming and the remaining 30% for watching videos,” the source said.
As we can see, users use it quite commonly, even if the operating system that gives them life is not: Pyongyang Touch or Arirang OS, little modified versions of Android AOSP but very sophisticated. North Korean smartphones come with a security feature that Automatically delete unauthorized media files, to avoid propagation from external media. How do they solve the problem? By using the SD cards that they insert into these phones.
But this is not enough to avoid government controlbecause after the last update which forced citizens to go to telephone centers, it allows officials to access the telephone records of all people.
By | Daily NK
In Xataka Android | The Northern Lights are back. When to see them and tips for photographing them with your mobile
