A smartphone that was smuggled out of North Korea provides a glimpse into the brutal world of totalitarian control and the extreme forms of censorship that the regime of the isolated country uses to keep its population in the grip of loyalty.

Smuggling of USB drives and SD cards, on which South Korean dramas and K-pop are stored, still crosses the border. But the ruling regime under Kim Jong Un has elevated fear so much that in 2023 it criminalized even phrases from South Korea and even accents. Anyone who says something that sounds like speech from the neighboring country could end up behind bars or worse. It’s a bit like punishing someone for pronouncing the word “about” in English.

The control system isn’t limited to streets or conversations – it has penetrated people’s pockets through smartphones. The North Korean smartphone that was smuggled out and later examined by BBC journalists proved itself as a digital loyalty monitor embedded in the firmware.

“I thought other countries lived with such control,” she told BBC. “But then I realized that it was only in North Korea.”

– BBC

Censorship Literally in Your Pocket

If you type the word “oppa” on the smartphone – a term of endearment from South Korean culture – auto-correct transforms it into “comrade.” And the words “South Korea” are likely to be spoken as “puppet state.” It’s not possible to simply delete these changes from the dictionary to make them disappear. The auto-correct feature works in real time, continually censoring the text you type.

Even more – the phone takes a screenshot every five minutes and sends it to the authorities. The files are hidden from the user, so the device effectively monitors you and forwards “reports” to the government, without allowing you to verify them yourself.

According to Martin Williams, a technology analyst from North Korea, the country uses smartphones as tools of indoctrination – small portable loyalty tests that also serve as surveillance devices. And, unfortunately, they work: North Korea is gradually gaining the upper hand in the internal information battle not by banning foreign content completely, but by making people too afraid to engage with it.

In November 2023, 24-year-old Kan Gyuri, who escaped from North Korea in late 2023, grew convinced that other countries also control citizens and suppress freedom of expression. Only through smuggling media did she learn that something could be different. “I thought other countries lived with such control… But then I realized that it was only in North Korea,” she told BBC reporters.

Overall, the story of this one phone underscores how the information war inside the country is gradually shifting from blocking external content to creating a culture of fear around its use. The control mechanisms don’t push people into isolation only in words – they are embedded in the very device you carry in your pocket.

Impact on Life and the Future

This story demonstrates how technology can become tools not only for communication but also for manipulation and surveillance. If citizens grow up in one system where each step may be questioned, they readily give up open discussion and the exchange of ideas. And while the internal information battle continues, a significant portion of the populace in North Korea chooses silence over risk.

Since Kan Gyuri’s escape, her story is a reminder of the reality: even in the modern world, digital surveillance can be so pervasive that people come to value freedom of speech as a rarity, and access to serious information as a privilege.