Tuesday, December 18, 2018

North Korea, Fearing K-Pop and Porn, Warns Against Smartphones’ Influence | NYT

Earlier in the article: "“This proves that mobile phones have become an avenue to instill students with unhealthy ideology”"
"Mobile phones have also become an important revenue source for Mr. Kim’s government. State-owned companies sell various rebranded Chinese cellphones, or devices assembled in the North using foreign components, for $100 to $300 apiece. Mr. Kim himself has been shown with a smartphone and inspecting a phone-assembly factory in state media, as he champions the development of science and technology as a means of reviving the North’s moribund economy.

But Mr. Kim’s government has also recently begun blocking North Korean smartphones’ Bluetooth capabilities to prevent file sharing. It is also installing software in smartphones that makes it difficult to open outside files and enables the authorities to track what users have been watching, according to defectors and South Korean officials."
North Korea, Fearing K-Pop and Porn, Warns Against Smartphones’ Influence | NYT

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