A Chinese company participating in this week’s international trade fair in Pyongyang is offering “custom order [North] Korean language mobile phones” at its booth, an image obtained by NK News shows.
The open offer could hold implications for the enforcement of current UN sanctions prohibiting such trade, and provides a window into how state-sanctioned smartphone trade may be occurring between China and the DPRK.
This trade was possibly evident elsewhere at the 15th Pyongyang Autumn International Trade Fair, with other images showing a similar phone as that displayed by the Chinese company branded as a new product from a North Korean company.
Red signs reading “we custom order [North] Korean language mobile phones” and “we sell various electronic products,” written in Korean, are being displayed at the booth for the Dandong Dongchen Trading Co., the NK News image shows.
In an image published by DPRK external-focused outlet Arirang Meari, phone cases and even individual components such as phone screens are seen in more detail on display in the booth.
Dummy phones with the ‘waterdrop notch’ design first appearing on Chinese-made devices in mid-2018 were also on display, while Meari blurred handwritten signs on the surface of the glass case showing the company’s products.
Dandong Dongchen’s name in Chinese characters was not visible in images of their booth, however, without which it is difficult to determine the company’s ownership.
The signs inside the booth as well as the displaying of individual phone components suggest the company may be seeking North Korean partners to purchase parts or bulk orders of custom, complete phone configurations.
Direct sales of pre-made Chinese phones at the trade fair would also be unlikely, as the North Korean government carefully controls electronic devices and only officially allows those equipped with modified operating systems to be sold or used by DPRK citizens in the country.
But trade in mobile phones, custom-made or not, is technically prohibited under UN Security Council Resolution 2397 passed in late 2017, which bans the export of electronics (under HS code 85) to North Korea.
Domestic DPRK brands have nevertheless in the last few years continued to offer the latest Android-based smartphones — sometimes with nearly identical designs to models sold in China.
Recent examples first reported by NK News include a new model from the established “Pyongyang” brand, as well as a phone from the new “Kiltongmu” brand resembling the Samsung Note 8 design and imitation versions from China.
CUSTOMIZATION IN ACTION?
NK News can also report exclusively on another new brand and device likely Chinese in origin, appearing to be advertised for the first time at the autumn trade fair this week.
The “Samthaesong (삼태성)” brand smartphone, made by the “Jonsung Economy & Technology Exchange Company (전승경제기술교류사),” was featured on a billboard placed prominently next to the front entrance of the fair.
Both the company and the brand have not been mentioned in North Korean state media or seen at previous international trade fairs in the country, while the Jonsung logo (in the top left of the billboard) appears nearly identical to that of the U.S.-based Delta Airlines.
The billboard describes some features of the phone such as its “triple camera” system and Android 9.0 operating system — known as Pie and released in August 2018.
Images of the front and rear casing appear to show three lenses in a vertical camera housing in the rear next to a circular fingerprint reader, as well as the ‘waterdrop notch’ at the top of the screen.
Major Chinese phone makers such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, and others have pioneered the particular notch design and released nearly identical models as Samthaesong’s in the last year.
The Dandong Dongchen company was also seen displaying phones and components with similar, but not identical, designs at its booth at the fair this week.
It is likely, given its design and repeated evidence of North Korean domestically-branded phones having links to Chinese products in the past, that the Samthaesong’s components originate in China as well.
It is difficult to make a conclusive determination, however, without a full specifications list and additional images of the device.
Neither the company nor the phone were spotted inside the trade fair in the available imagery seen by NK News.
A Chinese company participating in this week’s international trade fair in Pyongyang is offering “custom order [North] Korean language mobile phones” at its booth, an image obtained by NK News shows.
The open offer could hold implications for the enforcement of current UN sanctions prohibiting such trade, and provides a window into how state-sanctioned smartphone trade may be occurring between China and the DPRK.
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Colin Zwirko is a Senior Analytic Correspondent for NK News based in Seoul. He joined the company in 2018 after receiving a master's degree in international security and foreign policy from South Korea's Yonsei University. Follow him on Twitter.