North Korea has permitted the use of portable Chinese media players, commonly used as hidden tools to gain access
to a view of the outside world by its people, the Daily NK has learned. The
state’s move to allow the use of these devices,
directly following the commemorative event for the third anniversary since Kim
Jong Il’s death, is considered unprecedented.
“During an inminban [people’s unit] meeting on the 13th, along with propaganda messages about
the third anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s death, we were
told there were orders from above [the Party] saying individuals are able to
use ‘notetel’ [the colloquial name for the media devices]” a source based in Yangkang Province
told the Daily NK on Monday. Following this announcement, the devices
previously sold only in black markets are now on sale at regular marketplaces.
“Notetel” can be similar to the size of a
laptop or as small as six inches. The devices sold at marketplaces in the North
are roughly 80 to 100 USD, with one dollar currently trading for 8,300 KPW at the
markets.
Prior to this relaxed measure, North Korea
imposed strict crackdowns on the use of tablet PCs, MP3 players, smartphones, and Chinese portable media players in order to cut off access to information from the
outside world–especially popular content generated in South Korea. “Notetel” are small, portable, and can read CDs, DVDs, and also flash drives, which is
why they were popular with younger North Koreans. Most models are also equipped with television and radio tuners.
All residents will be allowed to use the compact media players, but with one caveat characteristic of North Korea: the channel on the
devices must be fixed to preset state requirements, according to the source.
Also, households with such players must receive a sticker of registration from
security and judicial agencies.
Unsurprisingly, most North Koreans are nonplussed by the sudden move, questioning why this authorization has been granted, the
source said. “The Party has legally allowed the use of
them, but it could be a trap to catch people that engage in illicit activities,
so residents have to be more careful,” some have
speculated.
The North may have restricted use of the
device with its preset channel requirement, but breaking the mandated seal is
hardly an onerous task. People at the markets, while dodging the watchful gaze
of state surveillance, instruct users on how to secretly remove the seal. The state, which is
almost certainly aware of this practice, may be using this as a means to
identify those who illegally watch South Korean TV dramas and weed them out,
the source surmised.
“As Kim Jong Eun’s
era officially opens up, it seems like he is trying to win over people’s hearts by letting them use ‘notetel,’”
she explained, but was quick to express skepticism. “You
can’t leave out the possibility that he is using
it as a way to lure in those who have these devices and expose their
ideological tendencies.”
The source, like most wary residents in North
Korea, plans to tread lightly until the implications of the new measure present
themselves. “The young leader [Kim Jong Eun], who was
able to study abroad, may be putting on this image of benevolence for his
people, but the nature of politics is that you never know when things will
change, so caution must be exercised,” she concluded.
