Those who take lifestyle cues from the world’s only twenty-something ruler of an ostensible nuclear power may like to know that his new smartphone is neither an Apple nor a Samsung.
Instead Kim is thought to be using the latest model from Taiwan’s HTC, according to JoongAng Ilbo based on a S. Korean government analysis of a phone placed beside the young leader at a conference table in a photo released the N. Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
“After a close analysis of photos and footage from the North’s state media, we found some clues that Kim is using a smartphone,” said an official of the Unification Ministry Sunday.
The photo was apparently taken on January 26 at a top security meeting scheduled by Kim to order “high-profile measures” ahead of N. Korea’s third nuclear test. It showed a black mobile phone next to Kim who is shown flipping through paperwork at a table with other officials.
“Given that Kim has put the phone right next to a document in front of him, we assume that he carries it himself,” said the Unification Ministry official.
He concluded that the phone is a model released recently by Taiwan’s HTC. The significance of Kim’s choice of smartphones may not be immediately apparent to most observers. The South’s Unification Ministry reads into it Kim’s reluctance to show any politically incorrect affinity for the South or for the US. Kim’s late father was less concerned about such symbolism. Several years ago he was reported to have purchased a large number of Apple iPods to distribute to favored cadres.
N. Koreans who subscribe to the Koryolink cell phone service provided by Egypt’s Orascom in a joint venture with the nation’s Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications are only allowed voice calls and text messages, and only domestically. So a smartphone would not be useable to access the internet.
“It appears that Kim, his family, and some inner-circle officials are using mobile phones or smartphones that can access the Internet and send some digital data,” the official continued. “Or maybe Kim was given a special mobile phone that is capable of Internet services.”
About 1.7 million N. Koreans are estimated to subscribe to Koryolink’s 3G service. Another estimate by the Hong Kong weekly Yazhou Zhoukan suggests “roughly 60 percent of residents in Pyongyang aged between 20s and 50s are using mobile phones. Some even started to use smartphones, such as iPhones or Nokias.”
Since Pyongyang’s population is about 2.5 million, if Yazhou Zhoukan’s estimate is correct, cell phone service would have spread only sparsely beyond the boundaries of the capital city in which most of those favored by the regime reside. However, in N. Korea’s border regions near China a significant number of small-scale traders are known to used smuggled cell phones to access Chinese mobile service which allows them to communicate with the outside world.
