{"id":16258,"date":"2025-06-03T19:18:33","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T19:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=16258"},"modified":"2025-06-03T19:18:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T19:18:33","slug":"smuggled-smartphone-from-north-korea-uncovers-chilling-ways-kim-jong-uns-regime-maintains-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=16258","title":{"rendered":"Smuggled Smartphone From North Korea Uncovers Chilling Ways Kim Jong Un&#8217;s Regime Maintains Control"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"start_gallery\">This phone, snuck out of North Korea, gives us a rare look inside the country<\/p><div class=\"iogvg69f5ca6e9aa9f\" ><div style=\"width:100%; max-width:1200px; margin:0 auto;\">\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/bolt-casino.com?r=0BFDBF1283\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n    <img \n      src=\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/f8693ebb-2018-480f-a2f7-0096810c07f0.jpg\" \n      alt=\"200% Deposit Bonus + 10% Cashback\" \n      style=\"width:100%; height:auto; display:block; border-radius:8px; cursor:pointer;\"\n    \/>\n  <\/a>\n<\/div><\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 1201px) {\r\n.iogvg69f5ca6e9aa9f {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 993px) and (max-width: 1200px) {\r\n.iogvg69f5ca6e9aa9f {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 769px) and (max-width: 992px) {\r\n.iogvg69f5ca6e9aa9f {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 768px) {\r\n.iogvg69f5ca6e9aa9f {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (max-width: 767px) {\r\n.iogvg69f5ca6e9aa9f {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n<\/style>\r\n\n<\/article>\n<section class=\"ad_outer_main ad_outer_main_first\">\n<div class=\"ad_outer_sub\">\n<div class=\"ad_outer\">\nA smartphone secretly brought out of North Korea has opened a rare window into just how strict the country\u2019s censorship is.<\/p>\n<p>Under the control of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea is run by the Workers&#8217; Party of Korea (WPK), which has held power since the party was established in 1948.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, the country has become known for being one of the hardest places in the world to enter. People who have managed to escape have shared stories that offer a glimpse of what life inside the country is truly like.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/videos\/cewd82p09l0o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BBC News<\/a>\u00a0took a deeper look at how the North Korean government enforces censorship by analyzing a smartphone that was illegally taken out of the country in the past year.<\/p>\n<p>At first, the phone might look just like any other smartphone you\u2019d find in places like the US. But once you start digging into how it works, some alarming differences come to light.<\/p>\n<p>The investigation revealed that the phone would automatically take a screenshot every five minutes. These images were hidden away in a folder the user couldn\u2019t access, but authorities could\u2014an unsettling feature meant for close monitoring.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.tbdcdn.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/02\/108118-thatviralfeed.com-large-604214.png\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Even certain words are not allowed on the device. BBC journalist Jean Mackenzie demonstrated this by typing the word &#8216;oppa&#8217; into the phone.<\/p>\n<p>While &#8216;oppa&#8217; literally means older brother in Korean, it\u2019s also often used in South Korea as a term of endearment for a boyfriend.<\/p>\n<p>But as soon as she entered the word, the phone instantly replaced it with &#8216;comrade&#8217;. That says a lot about the state\u2019s view on language. It seems the only acceptable use of that word is to refer to a biological sibling.<\/p>\n<p>If you try to type \u2018South Korea\u2019 into the phone, BBC\u2019s investigation found that it would be auto-corrected to \u2018puppet state\u2019. According to Mackenzie, that\u2019s the term North Korea routinely uses for the South.<\/p>\n<p>South Korea has long tried to sneak its pop culture into the North, using creative ways to get around the tight restrictions. For instance, USB sticks loaded with K-dramas and K-pop music have been floated across rivers in plastic bottles.<\/p>\n<p>The government\u2019s clampdown on foreign content is harsh. Last year, reports came out that as many as 30 teenagers were executed for watching South Korean television dramas. The level of control is deeply disturbing.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article_image_wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.tbdcdn.com\/uploads\/2025\/06\/02\/108118-thatviralfeed.com-large-604215.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Martyn Williams, who specializes in studying North Korea\u2019s use of technology and media, shared with the BBC:\u00a0<em>&#8220;Smartphones are now part and parcel of the way North Korea tries to indoctrinate people.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;The reason for this control is that so much of the mythology around the Kim family is made up. A lot of what they tell people is lies.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"article_embed_wrapper\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"v13785867571186028\" class=\"tiktok-embed\" cite=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@bbcnews\/video\/7510553407434902806\" data-video-id=\"7510553407434902806\"><p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed\/v2\/7510553407434902806?lang=en-US&amp;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thatviralfeed.com%2Fnorth-korea-smuggled-smartphone-censorship%2F108118%3Futm_source%3Dsocial%26utm_medium%3Du3325p9817%26utm_campaign%3Du3325p9817%26utm_content%3Dsocial_feed\" name=\"__tt_embed__v13785867571186028\" sandbox=\"allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-scripts allow-top-navigation allow-same-origin\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In addition, BBC News interviewed Kang Gyuri, a North Korean defector who fled the country in 2023 and now lives in exile in South Korea.<\/p>\n<p>Looking back on her life in North Korea, Gyuri recalled:\u00a0<em>&#8220;I felt so suffocated, and I suddenly had an urge to leave.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;I used to think it was normal that the state restricted us so much. I thought other countries lived with this control. But then I realized it was only in North Korea.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This phone, snuck out of North Korea, gives us a rare look inside the country A smartphone secretly brought out of North Korea has opened a rare window into just how strict the country\u2019s censorship is. Under the control of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea is run by the Workers&#8217; Party of Korea (WPK),&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Smuggled Smartphone From North Korea Uncovers Chilling Ways Kim Jong Un&#039;s Regime Maintains Control - VM News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=16258\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Smuggled Smartphone From North Korea Uncovers Chilling Ways Kim Jong Un&#039;s Regime Maintains Control - VM News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This phone, snuck out of North Korea, gives us a rare look inside the country A smartphone secretly brought out of North Korea has opened a rare window into just how strict the country\u2019s censorship is. 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