Tech YouTuber Mrwhosetheboss recently got his hands on something incredibly rare—two actual smartphones from North Korea. These phones are so unknown that if you Google them, you'll find absolutely nothing. What he discovered is both fascinating and terrifying.
The two phones are the Han 701 (a budget model) and the Sam Taung 8 (their "flagship" phone). What makes these devices special isn't their features—it's how they're used to control an entire population.
When Your Phone Corrects Your Thoughts
The most disturbing thing? The autocorrect system literally changes what you write.
Type "South Korea" and it automatically changes to "puppet state." Try writing "Republic of Korea" and it just turns into asterisks—like when you try to use a bad word online and it gets blocked.
The newer phone won't even let you write "North Korea." You have to call it "Joseon" (the old Korean kingdom name). South Korea becomes "South Joseon"—as if it belongs to them.
Type the leader's name "Kim Jong-un" and it automatically makes the text bold. Use South Korean slang? It gets corrected to "proper" North Korean words.
The craziest example: Type "oppa" (a common Korean word for older brother or boyfriend) and it changes to "comrade" with a warning message: "This word can only be used to describe your siblings."
Imagine getting a warning just for typing slang.
No Real Internet
These phones look normal at first. Swipe down and you see a Wi-Fi button—but when you press it, nothing happens. Try going to settings to turn on Wi-Fi? You can't. The newer phone doesn't even show a Wi-Fi icon.
The only option is something called "Mirae," which needs your government ID and official SIM card. Everything you do gets tracked. And even then, you don't get actual internet access.
Instead, you get a North Korean-only network with government-approved content. The speed? Between 2-33 megabits per second—less than one-fourteenth of what South Korea offers.
Old Technology at High Prices
The Sam Taung 8 came out in 2023 and costs almost $1,000. But it looks exactly like a cheap Chinese Huawei phone from 2021—same design, same camera position, same buttons, everything.
The cameras are terrible. The cheap Han phone takes very poor quality photos. The expensive Sam Taung's camera doesn't even work properly and has a watermark from a Chinese parts company that apparently didn't get paid.
Both phones run extremely old software—5 years behind what we use today—with no way to update.
Everything is Copied
At least half the app icons are stolen from other companies. The Maps icon looks like Google Maps. The file manager icons are from Huawei phones. Even the official wallpaper looks downloaded from another brand's phone.
There's a professional-looking video about Arsenal Football Club—except it's actually stolen from Amazon Prime, just renamed with a North Korean logo slapped on it.
One football game shows team rosters but removes all South Korean players. When you select Tottenham, their South Korean star Son Heung-min is just deleted—they don't want people knowing South Koreans succeed internationally.
Controlled Content
The movie selection is revealing. No American films. No South Korean content. But Russian movies? Plenty. Russia is North Korea's political ally, so that's what people get to watch.
There are also Indian movies like "Three Idiots." Why? Experts think Indian content is different enough to be interesting but not threatening to North Korean culture like Western content would be.
The apps include government biographies, cooking guides for "proper" North Korean food, and even a "common sense" app teaching people how to think about basic things like family relationships.
You Can't Just Download Apps
Want a new app? You can't just download and use it. You have to:
- Download it from their app store
- Take your phone to a physical store
- Wait for them to authorize it
- Let them install the "necessary backend data"
And here's the worst part: apps expire. You get notifications asking you to pay for 6 or 12 months to keep using them. Every single app becomes a paid subscription—even the app about North Korean laws.
This is brutal in a country where people earn just 3.4% of what South Koreans make.
Red Flag: Always Watching
There's hidden surveillance software called "Red Flag" built deep into these phones. It can't be removed or bypassed.
Every file, photo, and app has a digital signature showing where it came from. Only government-approved content or things created on your phone (like your own photos) will work. Everything else gets automatically deleted.
The most terrifying feature? Your phone secretly takes screenshots while you use it. You can see them in a folder, but you can't open them, check them, or delete them. Are they sent to the government constantly? Used only when officials suspect you? Nobody knows.
But in a country where watching South Korean TV shows is punishable by death, would you risk it?
How Nepal's Tech Scene Compares
When you look at North Korea's digital prison and compare it to Nepal, the difference is like night and day. Sure, we Nepalis complain about slow internet speeds in rural areas and expensive data packages, and yes, our government occasionally tries to ban apps like TikTok or restrict certain content. But imagine for a moment what it would be like if your phone wouldn't let you type certain words, automatically changing "India" to "neighbor state" or blocking you from writing "China" altogether. In Nepal, we freely browse Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and the actual worldwide web—not some fake government-controlled network that pretends to be the internet. We download apps instantly from Google Play or the App Store without needing to visit a physical store for "authorization," and our apps don't expire after six months forcing us to pay subscriptions just to use a calculator or read laws.
While a North Korean pays nearly $1,000 for a poorly-functioning phone with 5-year-old technology that can't access real internet, Nepalis can walk into any mobile shop in New Road or order online to get the latest Samsung, iPhone, or budget-friendly Xiaomi with all the modern features and global access. We complain when our phones are a year or two behind the latest model, but North Koreans are stuck with devices that were outdated before they were even released. We use VPNs freely when we need to access blocked content, we share whatever we want on social media, we criticize our politicians openly on Twitter and Facebook, and the worst that happens is maybe a heated argument in the comments—not death sentences for watching foreign TV shows.
Yes, Nepal's digital infrastructure needs serious improvement, and internet costs are still too high for many families, especially in rural areas where connectivity is poor. We struggle with digital literacy, and not everyone can afford smartphones. But the fundamental difference is freedom. A Nepali teenager can watch Korean dramas on Netflix, share Indian memes, follow American YouTubers, and chat with friends around the world—all things that would be impossible or deadly in North Korea. Our biggest tech frustration might be buffering videos or expensive data plans, while North Koreans can't even mention their neighbor country without their phone changing the words and potentially recording evidence against them.
The Bigger Picture
Every aspect of these phones—from autocorrect to app stores to hidden surveillance—exists for one purpose: control.
The message is clear: North Korea is superior, outside influence is dangerous, and everything you do is being watched.
It makes you grateful for what we have. In Nepal, we might complain about TikTok bans or slow internet, but we live in a digital world with real freedom. While we continue pushing for better internet access, lower costs, and protection of our online rights, we should remember that somewhere not too far away, people can't even write certain words on their phones without the government changing them.
These North Korean smartphones aren't just phones—they're digital prisons. They show what happens when technology becomes a tool for total control rather than connection and freedom.
Based on the investigation by Mrwhosetheboss.
As Nepalis enjoying relative digital freedom, let's appreciate what we have while continuing to fight for an even better, more accessible digital future for everyone.
