A mobile device smuggled out of North Korea has uncovered just how far the regime is going to monitor and manipulate its citizens’ behavior through technology.
At first glance, the smartphone appeared entirely ordinary. But according to a BBC investigation, it contained software that issued alerts when South Korean slang was used, and would automatically change references to “South Korea” to say “puppet state.”
Additionally, the phone was programmed to silently capture a screenshot every five minutes. These images were hidden in a folder the user couldn’t see or access — presumably for review by North Korean officials.
In one striking example, when the user typed “oppa,” a term used affectionately for older brothers and also boyfriends in South Korean vernacular, the phone immediately corrected it to “comrade,” in line with the regime’s ideological messaging.
A pop-up would then appear, informing the user that “oppa” should only be used when referring to an actual older sibling, the BBC reported.
These unsettling features were brought to light after the Seoul-based outlet Daily NK succeeded in smuggling the device out of North Korea late last year, exposing a chilling use of surveillance technology in everyday life.
This phone is just the latest indication of North Korea’s tightening grip on information and technology under Kim Jong Un’s leadership, signaling a new front in the regime’s propaganda machine.
“Smartphones are now part and parcel of the way North Korea tries to indoctrinate people,” said Martyn Williams, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C., and a leading analyst on North Korean digital strategy, in an interview with the BBC.
He warned that North Korea is “starting to gain the upper hand” in the battle over controlling the flow of information.
Further steps were taken last year when the government criminalized the use of South Korean-style speech and slang. Speaking with a South Korean accent is now a punishable offense.
Across the country, groups of young regime loyalists known as “youth crackdown squads” roam the streets, ensuring citizens—particularly the youth—adhere to the government’s standards.
Kang Gyuri, a 24-year-old defector now living in South Korea, recalled to the BBC how she was frequently stopped by these squads for mimicking South Korean fashion and hairstyles before escaping her homeland by boat in 2023.
She said the patrols would also seize her phone and comb through her messages, scanning for any forbidden language or references to South Korean culture.
North Korea’s escalating surveillance is seen as a response to continued efforts from the South to pierce the information blackout. These efforts aim to expose North Koreans to the stark differences in freedoms and lifestyles across the border.
Though the North bans all foreign media, a handful of South Korean broadcasts still manage to break through by transmitting on radio frequencies during the night.
Every month, thousands of USB drives and memory cards loaded with South Korean TV shows and K-pop music are smuggled into North Korea. They’re often hidden in fruit crates and other inconspicuous shipments.
Much of this underground information campaign is bankrolled by the United States. But according to critics, recent cuts in funding by President Trump could tilt the balance in Kim’s favor.
“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,” said Martyn Williams.
For individuals like Kang, those banned broadcasts and dramas served as the first glimpse of life beyond North Korea’s borders — and awakened a hunger for freedom she didn’t know she had.
“I felt so suffocated, and I suddenly had an urge to leave,” she said.
“I used to think it was normal that the state restricted us so much. I thought other countries lived with this control. But then I realized it was only in North Korea,” she said.
{Matzav.com}