North Koreans are using their mobile phones to exchange information from the outside world and complain about their own society. A reporting partner inside North Korea recently told Daily NK that the country’s recent amendment of its mobile telecommunications law is aimed at eradicating this phenomenon.
“Mobile phones have become a beloved item people can’t live without. However, with the protracted closure of the border due to COVID-19, people suffering severe food shortages are using their mobile phones to complain to one another about the state, and this has been criticized as a serious social problem [by the government],” the reporting partner told Daily NK on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.
“As people in the border regions talk on the phone with people in interior regions such as Pyongyang, Pyongsong, Nampo, Haeju and Sariwon, they are also conveying news from the outside world,” he continued, adding, “People who hear about the news [from the outside world] often spread it further to other people in the region where they live.”
According to the results of a 2022 survey of 50 North Koreans conducted by Daily NK and Unification Media Group, 41 of the 50 North Koreans (82%) surveyed said they owned a North Korean mobile phone. Asked what they use their mobile phones for, 44 (97.8%) said they use their devices to place domestic phone calls.
In a briefing last year on North Korea’s telecommunication infrastructure, North Korea-focused media outlet 38 North estimated that “North Korea’s cellular networks likely have a total of between 6.5 million and 7 million subscriber lines.”
Although North Koreans are passing along information to others through their mobile phones, the country’s authorities believe phone conversations between people are a serious social problem that could hurt regime cohesion, the reporting partner told Daily NK.
He explained that the recent amendment of the country’s mobile telecommunications law reflected this understanding on the part of the North Korean authorities.
“The desired effect of the mobile telecommunications law’s revision is to stop people from sharing and communicating information,” the reporting partner said. “It intends to prevent people from sharing and spreading information from the outside world or from complaining to each other about the state.”
In fact, North Korea imported telecom bugging equipment in 2020 to better conduct surveillance and implement controls on cell phone users. This was part of an effort to build a system capable of bugging any mobile phone call using North Korea’s mobile telecom networks Koryolink (numbers beginning with 191) and Kang Song NET (numbers beginning with 195).
PEOPLE MORE CAREFUL+ ABOUT WHAT THEY SAY ON PHONES
Even though North Koreans have known they could get in trouble if their conversations are bugged, they have still used their mobile phones to share information from the outside world or complain about the state. Since the revisions to the mobile telecommunications law, however, people have become more cautious about what they say because they fear punishment, the reporting partner claimed.
“Since the law was amended, people can’t say just anything over a mobile phone,” he explained. “Specifically, they can’t convey information about the region they live in when talking with somebody in another region.”
What this suggests is that North Koreans are lying low, lest they become targeted by the government for punishment under the revised law.
“It seems the government only thinks about and researches laws to control and harass people,” the reporting partner further claimed, adding, “Many people think [the government] made the law to suffocate them.”
He also claimed that the amendment of the mobile telecommunication law was a measure to stop people from using phones registered under another person’s name, otherwise known as daepo phones.
“People who conduct illegal commercial activities buy SIM cards from marketplaces or individuals to use daepo phones, not regular phones,” the reporting partner said. “[The revision of the bill] also aimed to stop people from buying and selling illegal mobile phones whose IDs cannot be verified.”
Daily NK reported in March that North Korea amended its mobile communication law to eradicate the use of daepo phones.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of reporting partners who live inside North Korea. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
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