Mobile phones a dangerous luxury for North Koreans

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-07-02

The debut of the Huawei Ascend P7 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
June 10. (photo/Xinhua)

More and more North Koreans are using cheap smartphones bought from China, according to a June 26 report by Asia Times Online, a newspaper based in Hong Kong.

A growing number of shops in Chinese cities bordering North Korea specialize in selling cheap mobile phones that can operate on the restricted telecommunication network in North Korea.

Although the mobile phones sold in the Chinese shops are cheap, it is very difficult to bring them into North Korea due to the necessity of bribing border officers and the complex registration process. Many North Koreans, consequently, are still hesitant about getting a mobile phone, according to a source in Dandong in Liaoning province, a border city.

The Chinese vendors mainly target North Koreans who travel to China frequently on shopping trips. The phones offered include various models, with a basic model selling for US$55, foldable phones costing US$80 and touch smartphones costing up from US$130.

Another source in Dandong revealed that groups of businesspeople collect broken mobile phones in North Korea and send them for repair in China because replacement parts are too expensive in their country. Collectors of broken mobile phones usually visit repair shops which display signs marked Pyongyang Telecom near the customs office in Dandong.

North Korea introduced its homemade smartphone the AS1201 Arirang last August. Since 2008, there have been about 2 million mobile phone users in North Korea, but a Chinese Huawei mobile phone at the price of US$150 still remains a luxury for most North Koreans.