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A smuggled North Korean smartphone reveals how the regime censors information, including screenshotting users activities every five minutes 

  • A smartphone smuggled from North Korea sheds light on how The system is tightly monitors. The measures are automatically replacing the famous Korean words with terms approved by the system and recording screenshots of the user’s activity for officials.

It has given a smuggled smartphone from North Korea a glimpse of how Kim Jong -un has information in the isolated and secret country.

The phone, which was smuggled outside the country late last year by a Seoul media organization, Daily NK, After that it was obtained by the BBC, it was programmed to monitor some languages ​​and record screenshots for the user’s activity. The smartphone cannot access the Internet as North Korea prevents information from outside the country.

According to The BBC report, the smartphone takes screenshots for user procedures every five minutes and saves them in a file that the user can see but not open. Only North Korean authorities can open files, allowing them to review what users are searching for.

The famous South Korean words such as “Oppa”, which literally translates into Big Broth, but became the South Korean colloquial for her friend, automatically with the word “companion”. Users also receive a warning; In this example, he said: “This word can only be used to describe your brothers.”

The Korean word for “South Korea” is also replaced by a “doll state”.

This reflects broader efforts by the regime to eliminate the South Korean cultural influence and citizens, even how people speak.

“Information War” between North and South Korea

North Korea is one of the most isolated and authoritarian countries in the world and ruled by the Kim family since its foundation in 1948.

The regime maintains strict control of its residents through monitoring and advertising and a wide network of informants. Citizens are cut off from the global internet, and even minor violations, such as watching foreign media, can lead to severe punishment.

Recently, South Korea is smuggling more foreign content to the neighboring country as part of the secret “war of information”. The goal is to expose the North Koreans to the outside world, especially how life for people in South Korea seems to suffer from more freedom and wealth.

South Korea and various NGOs use multiple tactics to do so, including loud loudspeakers on the border and the distribution of USB sticks secretly, drama -full SD cards, pop songs, and pro -democracy materials in North Korea. Rapid voltage is run by NGOs such as the UMG (UMG) group.

North Korea has intensified its loads in response, imposed tougher laws, monitoring, executions, and “youth suppression teams” owned by police citizens and its language.

The efforts made to smuggle information to North Korea were also affected by President Trump’s discounts in foreign aid projects.

The management has reduced funding for major media projects that work to obtain information in the country, such as Radio Free Asia and Voice of America.

This story was originally shown on Fortune.com

2025-06-04 15:05:00

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