Screenshot every 5 minutes? Why not. The BBC has obtained a smartphone that was smuggled out of North Korea. At first glance, it looks like any other touchscreen phone. But the inside shows that Orwell's vision was a pleasant walk in the park compared to what dictatorship combined with technology has laid out for its citizens.
North Korea remains the most isolated state since the beginning of the Kim dynasty in 1948. And the most controlled. Fear, appropriate propaganda and the inevitability that it will be revealed sooner or later are the basis of every dictatorship. There will be no need to fight the opposition if there is none – such theses would be written in the textbook “How to Maintain a Dictatorship? Learning in a Weekend”, if such a thing existed, of course. And although North Korean methods seem crude, it is impossible to deny their effectiveness.
The fact that the smartphone does not have internet access is no surprise to anyone. After all, Kim Jong-un's regime would not allow such an oversight. However, one of the most surprising functions of the totalitarian smartphone, which the BBC obtained, was the automatic screenshot function every 5 minutes. The images were sent to a folder that the user had no access to, so they could not modify it in any way. In this way, the services can make sure that they did not type in unorthodox search terms, did not watch jokes or discuss anything inappropriate (for the regime, of course).
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The dictionary contains some interesting examples of language modification. For example, the South Korean word “oppa,” which literally means “older brother” but is used as a slang term for “boyfriend,” is automatically replaced with “comrade.” What's more, after using “oppa,” the phone warns the user with a finger, displaying a warning:
This word can only be used to describe siblings.
In turn, the word “Nampan”, i.e. South Korea, is replaced by the slogan “puppet state”.
Another surprise in terms of functionality – you can't cover the leader's face, e.g. in the articles you read. It must be visible at all times.
North Korean authorities have repeatedly cracked down on users of Chinese-made cellphones, with some being taken to detention centers and then to prison camps where they were subjected to torture, including hanging from the ceiling, electric shocks and sexual assaults, Daily North Korea reported.
Kim Jong Un punishes his citizens without mercy. Watching South Korean media, even just K-pop concerts, is punishable by execution, and family and bystanders are required to watch it carefully as a warning. Humanitarian organizations report that they are sometimes lined up to approach the deceased. Using South Korean phrases or even speaking with a South Korean accent is also a crime.
This, however, does not stop the resistance movement. Allegedly, micro-SD cards are smuggled into North Korea from South Korea every month. In addition, some stations transmit information across the border on low and medium radio frequencies. For now, however, due to the introduced repression, the regime is winning the battle for souls. Donald Trump has also added to this, or rather subtracted, by reducing the budgets of non-governmental organizations. In South Korea, the authorities behind smartphones already control all of their citizens in all areas of life.
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