A smartphone smuggled out of North Korea has revealed the astonishing extent of the regime’s surveillance tactics. The device automatically censors South Korean words, takes secret screenshots every five minutes, and stores the images in a hidden folder inaccessible to the user—undoubtedly accessible only to North Korean authorities.The phone, acquired by the BBC in late 2024, appears no different from a standard smartphone on the outside. However, technical analysis revealed that it runs on a heavily modified version of Android. The software is designed to monitor foreign influence and track a citizen’s every digital move. One example is that when users type “oppa”—a popular South Korean slang term for boyfriend or older brother—it auto-corrects the word to “comrade” and displays a warning that the term should only refer to siblings. Similarly, typing “South Korea” automatically changes to “puppet state,” in line with North Korean propaganda.Internet access is completely blocked for North Korean smartphone users. Instead, they are restricted to a closed internal network known as Kwangmyong, which hosts only state-approved content and offers no connection to the outside world. Citizens are entirely cut off from foreign news, media, and culture—particularly from South Korea, which is officially considered as an enemy state. This stricter digital control under Kim Jong-un’s leadership appears to be a response to South Korean efforts to spread disruptive messages aimed at opening the eyes of the North Korean people to show how life is drastically different in the South. Media reports indicate that the number of mobile devices in North Korea has increased in recent years, along with an increase in government surveillance. This includes a ban on connecting devices to the global internet. The country is also said to deploy so-called “youth repression squads,” which stop young people on the streets to inspect their phones and connections.The article is authored by Kripa C Saji, an intern from Loyola Academy, Hyderabad.
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