A smartphone smuggled out of the country rhas evealed censorship, hidden screenshots, intranet-only access, and penalties for accessing prohibited foreign media

The Wall Street Journal has produced an investigative report on 28 Aug 2026 describing how it had obtained and tested a smartphone smuggled out of North Korea, uncovering a device that outwardly resembles ordinary Android phones but contains extensive surveillance and censorship tools built directly into its operating system. 

Reporter Dasl Yoon, working with Daily NK, a Seoul-based newsroom that covers North Korea, has examined a mid-tier Haeyang 701 model manufactured in 2023 that was carried out of the country that same year.

At first glance, the phone appears familiar, offering voice calls, text messaging, and a range of applications, yet deeper inspection reveals that the Kim Jong Un regime can monitor virtually everything users type, view, and do on the device.

Orwellian mobile technology in 2026

The Haeyang 701 supports everyday conveniences such as QR code payments, money transfers, and taxi-hailing services, with the transfer screen even divided between “domestic currency” and “foreign currency,” suggesting dollar transactions are possible

Despite these modern features, the phone cannot access the global internet; even with Wi-Fi turned on, users are restricted to the state-run intranet, known as Kwangmyong, which hosts only government-approved content. This walled garden prevents citizens from reaching outside information, including South Korean dramas, American films, or any foreign media, which are strictly prohibited under North Korean law. Also:

  • Built-in censorship operates in real time as users type. Entering the name “Kim Jong Un” automatically renders the text in bold, while typing “Republic of Korea” or “South Korea” immediately changes to “(prohibited term).” 
  • The phone auto-corrects slang popular in South Korean entertainment: for instance, the abbreviation “nam-chin” — commonly used in K-dramas to mean boyfriend, is replaced with the more innocuous “male buddy”.  In a soccer game app, the United States and South Korea are conspicuously absent from the list of selectable countries, further illustrating the regime’s efforts to erase foreign cultural influence.
  • The most chilling feature is the automatic screen-capture system. The phone periodically takes screenshots of whatever the user is viewing, and saves them in a hidden “screen history” folder that cannot be deleted or disabled.  This allows state security officials to later inspect the device and review exactly what content a citizen has accessed, with possession of banned foreign media punishable by up to five years in prison and distribution potentially carrying the death penalty.
  • The Haeyang 701 sells for approximately US$250 on North Korea’s black market, a steep price in a country where a military officer’s monthly salary is barely more than one dollar. As a result, only about the wealthiest 10% of North Koreans can afford these devices, according to defectors.

Ryu Sunghyun, a North Korean defector and former soldier who once owned such a phone, explained that he avoided watching any American or South Korean content out of fear, knowing the state could later retrieve his screen history.

According to an earlier report, smartphone usage has expanded beyond Pyongyang, with at least 10 companies there competing in the domestic market by late 2024: yet, every device remains tethered to the state’s surveillance infrastructure today. The WSJ investigation highlights how North Korea has embraced smartphone technology for economic and daily-life purposes while simultaneously refining its capacity to monitor citizens through those same devices.