Inside North Korea Smartphones: How Censorship, Surveillance, and Propaganda Live in Your Pocket
When we talk about smartphones, we usually think about freedom—apps, social media, cameras, and instant access to the world. But what if your phone was designed to do the exact opposite?
Mrwhosetheboss recently shared a rare, eye-opening look at two smuggled North Korean smartphones: the budget Han 701 and the so-called flagship Sam Taung 8. What these devices reveal isn’t just outdated tech—it’s a deeply engineered system of control, surveillance, and psychological conditioning. This isn’t speculation. It’s built directly into the software, hardware, and daily user experience.
Let’s break down what life looks like when your smartphone works for the government, not for you.
A Smartphone That Censors You in Real Time
The most shocking discovery isn’t the hardware—it’s the software.
North Korea smartphones run an aggressive real-time censorship system that actively manipulates language as you type. This isn’t simple keyword blocking. It’s ideological enforcement.
-
Type “Namhan” (South Korea), and it instantly autocorrects to “puppet state.”
-
Try writing “Republic of Korea,” and the words are blocked entirely, replaced with asterisks.
-
Even the name Kim Jong-un triggers a response: the text becomes automatically bolded the moment you finish typing it, reinforcing leader reverence at a subconscious level.
-
Everyday slang isn’t safe either. The South Korean word “oppa” is forcibly changed to “comrade,” along with a warning stating the term should only be used for siblings.
Even geography is rewritten. Users are forced to call North Korea “Joseon” and South Korea “South Joseon,” reinforcing the narrative that both belong to one nation under Northern rule.
This isn’t autocorrect. It’s ideological conditioning, happening silently, every day.
No Internet—Only the State Intranet
There is no real internet access for North Korean citizens.
On the budget Han phone, the Wi-Fi button exists—but tapping it does absolutely nothing. On the Sam Taung 8, it’s more extreme: the Wi-Fi icon is removed entirely, as if to erase the very concept of open connectivity.
Instead, users access a government-controlled intranet called Mirae.
To connect, you need:
-
Government-issued ID
-
A physical SIM card
-
Full identity verification
Every click is traceable. Every search is logged.
Even then, performance is intentionally poor. Speeds range from 2 to 33 Mbps, roughly one-fourteenth the speed of public Wi-Fi in South Korea. The limitation isn’t technical—it’s strategic.
“Made in North Korea”… Except It Isn’t
Despite being marketed as domestic achievements, these phones are heavily dependent on Chinese hardware, particularly Huawei.
The Sam Taung 8 is almost a perfect physical clone of a mid-range 2021 Huawei phone—down to the red accent on the power button and identical button cutouts. It gets even stranger inside the software.
In the “About Phone” section, the device uses a Huawei Mate 30 Pro promotional image, even though the actual phone looks completely different.
For a “2023 flagship,” the specs are years behind:
-
Android 11
-
Poor camera quality
-
Obsolete macro and depth sensors that global manufacturers abandoned long ago
This isn’t accidental. Outdated technology is easier to control.
Pirated Media, Politically “Cleansed”
North Korea bypasses international sanctions through systematic piracy, but with heavy ideological editing.
Documentaries that appear professionally produced—like one about Arsenal FC—are actually Amazon Prime series, with North Korean logos slapped over the original footage.
In a pirated football game called International Soccer League 2.0, player rosters are almost entirely accurate—except for one name. Son Heung-min, South Korea’s global football icon, is manually removed from Tottenham Hotspur. His success simply doesn’t exist in this digital world.
App stores are filled with Russian movies, reflecting political alliances, and surprisingly, a large number of Indian films, including 3 Idiots. Researchers believe Indian content is seen as entertaining yet culturally distant enough not to threaten the regime’s narrative.
Red Flag: The Surveillance System You Can’t Escape
The most disturbing feature is a deep-level surveillance layer known as Red Flag.
This system controls the phone at a fundamental level:
-
Every file needs a government digital signature. Photos, videos, apps—everything. Files without approval won’t open and may be automatically deleted.
-
The phone secretly takes screenshots of your activity multiple times a day.
-
These screenshots are stored in a hidden folder that users can see but cannot delete, edit, or modify.
-
Want a new app? You can’t download it. You must physically visit a government-authorized store, where an official manually “unlocks” the app.
-
Even basic apps aren’t permanent. Many require paid 6- or 12-month subscriptions, including a dictionary of North Korean laws.
Your phone isn’t just watching you. It’s reporting on you.
Engineering Culture, Erasing Individuality
Beyond surveillance, these smartphones are tools of psychological control.
A built-in app called General Guidance contains:
-
Laws
-
Regulations
-
A legal dictionary
-
“Common Sense”
Its purpose is chillingly clear: standardize thought, behavior, and even humor. The goal isn’t obedience alone—it’s uniformity.
Official apps don’t simply open. They begin with a leader quotation, displayed like a loading screen in a dystopian video game.
Even the phone’s name is propaganda. Sam Taung translates to “Three Huge Stars,” a deliberate jab at South Korea’s Samsung, which means “Three Stars.” National pride is baked directly into branding.
Severe Punishment, Real Consequences
This level of control isn’t symbolic—it’s enforced with extreme consequences.
-
Since 2020, watching or distributing South Korean entertainment is punishable by death.
-
Sharing unauthorized digital content is treated with the same severity as drug trafficking.
-
Old workarounds—like opening foreign files through a browser—no longer work. Signature checks now operate at a deeper system level, closing every loophole.
This is why the technology stays outdated. Newer systems are harder to control. Older ones are predictable, manageable, and easier to monitor.
Final Thoughts: A Smartphone as a State Weapon
These North Korean smartphones aren’t just devices—they’re weapons of control.
Every feature, from autocorrect to app subscriptions, serves a single purpose: maintain power, suppress individuality, and control reality itself. The Han 701 and Sam Taung 8 show us what happens when technology evolves without freedom—when innovation is allowed only if it strengthens the state.
In most of the world, your phone connects you to people, ideas, and possibilities.
In North Korea, it connects you directly to the government.
And it never looks away.
Leave a Reply