Tag: mobile phones
Puppet speech crackdown gains new legal weight from North Korea’s constitution
North Korea's 2026 constitutional amendment protecting Pyongyang Cultural Language has fueled a renewed puppet speech crackdown. Schools, workplaces and neighborhood organizations have stepped up...
Smartphone apps widen North Korea’s education gap
North Korean students in some regions are increasingly turning to smartphone apps to study English and Chinese in 2026. The trend is widening an...
North Korea’s smartphone payments reveal convenience and control
Electronic payment through smartphones is spreading rapidly across North Korea, with cash transactions increasingly giving way to digital payments in Pyongyang and other major...
In North Korea, a Chinese phone now costs as much as...
Chinese phone prices have surged along North Korea's border with China this year. Intensifying crackdowns and a halt in state-led smuggling have sharply reduced...
North Korea foreign trade shifts to state control
North Korea is overhauling its foreign trade system to route transactions only through official state trade organizations this year. Authorities have banned individual traders...
North Korea quietly hikes phone prices at the border
North Korea has quietly raised the prices of two mobile phone models sold in four border provinces, adding 500 Chinese yuan (about $74) to...
North Koreans turn to underground app for banned information
North Korean authorities caught a university student in Hamhung, South Hamgyong province, this July for using illicit software that opens access to unauthorized foreign...
Two arrested in Wonsan for smishing, voice phishing crimes targeting donju
North Korea has arrested two people in Wonsan, a city in Kangwon province, in mid-July 2026. Investigators say the pair used a "smishing" scheme,...
North Korea cracks down on youths using South Korean-style word for...
Authorities in Chongjin, North Hamgyong province, summoned three young people to a provincial youth league office this month over their use of the South...
Wealthy North Korean youth hide old players to dodge crackdowns
Young North Koreans from wealthy families are deliberately buying old, worn-out video players instead of newer models. They can easily afford better devices. Instead,...
