A smartphone smuggled by Seoul-based media organization Daily NK has offered a chilling glimpse into the extreme lengths the North Korean regime goes to in order to maintain a tight grip on its people.
At first glance, the device looks like any regular smartphone. But beneath its unassuming surface lies a suite of tools designed to track and correct its users’ behavior.
According to a BBC investigation, the phone automatically flags “unapproved” language, secretly snaps screenshots every five minutes, and even rewrites messages to align with state propaganda.
North Korean smartphones automatically rewrite “inappropriate” language and actively spy on users’ behavior
As demonstrated by the BBC, the smartphone autocorrects language deemed “improper” by the North Korean government.
For example, the word “South Korea” is autocorrected to “puppet state.” “Oppa,” a term that means “older brother” but has become a common South Korean slang for “boyfriend,” is also autocorrected to the more politically appropriate “comrade.”
The phone even warns users that “oppa” must only be used to refer to an actual sibling, as stated in a New York Post report.
Even more disturbing, the phone was found to take hidden screenshots at regular intervals, saving them in folders that remain inaccessible to users. These files are likely monitored by North Korean authorities, as they create an extensive digital trail of the user’s activity.
Language crimes and youth patrols make it difficult for North Korean youth to embrace Western ideals
Smartphones are just the tip of the iceberg for the Kim Jong Un regime. In 2023, using South Korean accents or slang in daily conversation became a state crime in North Korea.
The government even created “youth crackdown squads,” which are groups that target anyone caught dressing, speaking, or behaving in ways deemed too “South Korean.” That includes things as simple as a trendy hairstyle or stylish clothing.
North Korean defector Kang Gyuri, who is now 24, told the BBC that she was routinely stopped, searched, and even had her phone taken away so officials could check her messages for banned words.
She finally escaped North Korea by boat in 2023 and now lives in South Korea.
North Korea has been engaged in a long information war to control its citizens
The extreme monitoring measures are part of a broader campaign by the regime to crush outside influence, especially from the far more Westernized South Korea.
Despite the dictatorship’s best efforts, thousands of USB drives and micro-SD cards packed with K-dramas, music videos, and news content are being smuggled into the country each month by organizations such as South Korean nonprofit Unification Media Group (UMG).
Radio broadcasts also sneak messages into North Korea. These programs paint a vivid picture of life outside the country, which often directly contradicts state propaganda.
They also challenge the North Korean government’s long-held claim that South Koreans are oppressed and poor.
However, Martyn Williams, a North Korea tech expert and senior fellow at the Stimson Center, told the BBC that the regime is “starting to gain the upper hand” in the ongoing information war due to the Trump administration’s cuts to organizations such as Voice of America (VOA), which broadcasts messages into the reclusive country.
“Smartphones are now part and parcel of the way North Korea tries to indoctrinate people,” Williams said.
Exposure to outside media led to life-changing realizations for some North Koreans
For Kang and others like her, exposure to outside media wasn’t just eye-opening—it was life-altering, so much so that it encouraged her to pursue freedom outside North Korea.
“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 realised it was only in North Korea,” Kang said, adding that “North Korea’s youth has changed rapidly.”
Image credits: JHVEPhoto/Adobe Stock
UMG Director Lee Kwang-Baek highlighted this point in a comment to the BBC, stating, “Some (people) tell us they cried while watching these dramas, and that they made them think about their own dreams for the very first time.”
Sokeel Park of Liberty in North Korea, which helps distribute South Korean content into the communist state, echoed these sentiments.
“Most recent North Korean defectors and refugees say it was foreign content that motivated them to risk their lives to escape,” Park said.
Netizens reacted with shock over the extreme censorship demonstrated by the North Korean smartphone
