North Korea Creates First Local Smartphone: AS1201 Arirang
A few photos of Kim Jong Un inspecting a "hand phone" in a factory is drawing attention from the whole world.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korea's state-run news outlet, recently released photos of the young leader looking to be inspecting a cellphone factory. The images captured by North Korean media, shows Kim Jong Un at the factory where alleged locally-made hand phones were manufactured. Other images posted on International Business Times also show Kim holding the reported phones, looking at the packaging and overseeing factory workers.
The hand phone is called "Arirang", named after a famous North Korean folk song, says Fox News. Photos of the Arirang and its box packaging show that its complete label is the "AS1201 Arirang."
The "AS1201 Arirang" is allegedly domestically produced. However, many skeptics are saying otherwise, suspecting that the hand phone is produced in China. In a report by BBC, Martyn Williams said that the device was "probably made to order by a Chinese manufacturer and shipped to the May 11 Factory where they are inspected before going on sale." Williams is a senior correspondent at IDG News Service and runs North Korea Tech.
People are also wondering how the hand phone will work in a country where internet access is highly restricted. North Korea only allowed hand phones to be used in the country in 2008, and only permits domestic calls.
Details are still limited as for the specifications of the "smart" hand phone. According to the KCNA report, Kim "noted that these hand phones will be very convenient for their users as their camera function has high pixels." The young leder also described that the application programs on the phone are in "Korean style" which "provides the best convenience to the users while strictly guaranteeing security."
Last year, North Korea launched its very first tablet which runs on Android. The tablet was called "Samjiyon" and was produced by Chosun Computer in Pyongyang. The tablet runs fairly fast and even runs popular games like "Angry Birds", says the New York Times. The $200 tablet cannot access the internet but makes use of Kwangmyong - North Korea's "walled garden" national intranet.
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!