Smuggled North Korean phone reveals a chilling surveillance system
Team TOI Plus
TIMESOFINDIA.COM
Jun 5, 2025, 22:47 IST IST
From replacing 'Oppa' with 'Comrade' to labeling South Korea a 'puppet state', a smuggled phone uncovers how Pyongyang has turned everyday tech into a tool of total control
At first glance, it looks like any other budget smartphone — touchscreen interface, Android-style icons, even a familiar camera app. But this device smuggled out of North Korea in late 2024 tells a darker story.
Beneath the façade of consumer tech lies a meticulously engineered surveillance tool, designed not to connect users to the world but to keep them firmly walled inside Pyongyang's ideological fortress.
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