Last weekend North Korean media treated us with a remarkable picture: the Supreme Leader Marshal Kim Jong Un with a new domestically produced smartphone in his hands. Kim was shown playing with the newly made ‘Arirang’ smartphone, which was allegedly produced locally, at a factory the Marshal himself was visiting to inspect.
A few months earlier North Korean media had written about the ‘Samjiyon’ tablet PC – also said to be produced locally –which comes pre-loaded with a large amount of ideologically correct and useful content, such as the full works of the Supreme Leader’s father and grandfather Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung.
Last weekend North Korean media treated us with a remarkable picture: the Supreme Leader Marshal Kim Jong Un with a new domestically produced smartphone in his hands. Kim was shown playing with the newly made ‘Arirang’ smartphone, which was allegedly produced locally, at a factory the Marshal himself was visiting to inspect.
A few months earlier North Korean media had written about the ‘Samjiyon’ tablet PC – also said to be produced locally –which comes pre-loaded with a large amount of ideologically correct and useful content, such as the full works of the Supreme Leader’s father and grandfather Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung.
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Andrei Lankov is a Director at NK News and writes exclusively for the site as one of the world's leading authorities on North Korea. A graduate of Leningrad State University, he attended Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung University from 1984-5 - an experience you can read about here. In addition to his writing, he is also a Professor at Kookmin University.