The North Korean authorities are conducting a massive crackdown targeting the import and use of foreign-made mobile phones in the country, North Korean sources inside the country report.
Department 15 of the Ministry of State Security (MSS) specializes in anti-espionage activities and has recently had its role expanded. Together with taskforces involving local police, they are launching broad crackdowns throughout the country.
“A public trial was held recently in Kaecheon, South Pyongan Province, in which seven people were sentenced to correctional forced labor. Five of them had been charged with using foreign-made mobile phones,” said a South Pyongan Province-based source on Monday.
South Korean security experts note that agencies can track and monitor mobile devices because each smartphone has a unique digital identifier.
The North Korean security agencies can likely identify smartphones holding USIM cards with international serial numbers and are tracking the users to make arrests.
An additional source in South Pyongan Province who corroborated the recent Kaechon trial and sentencing told Daily NK that the crackdowns on foreign-made smartphones appears related to the North Korean state’s battle against the so-called “yellow wind of capitalism.”
Kim Jong Un emphasized the need to prevent the spread of foreign information in North Korea in his recent New Year’s Address, saying, “We should launch a powerful drive to establish a socialist way of life and ennobling moral discipline, thus ensuring that no immoral and uncultured practices that run counter to our people’s emotions and aesthetic view are revealed. By doing so, we can turn the whole society into a large, harmonious family filled with moral excellence and tender feelings.”
Moreover, the North Korean authorities are concerned about the use of foreign-made smartphones because the information on them cannot be censored. Daily NK recently obtained a North Korean-made smartphone and found that videos and files lacking North Korean state-approved certificates would not open on the phone.
Foreign-made phones allow users to view videos and other media that has not been approved by the state, constituting part of the “black zone” that is outside the sphere of control of the government.
North Koreans are reportedly more fond of Samsung and Apple smartphones than North Korean-made phones like the “Pyongyang” and “Arirang.” Chinese smartphones are also popular, with North Koreans reportedly preferring phones produced in China’s larger cities like Beijing and Shanghai over smaller manufacturers.
