A smartphone smuggled out of North Korea offers a rare look into the country’s tight control over information and language. Acquired by the BBC through defector networks and analyzed by tech experts in late 2024, the phone looks normal but runs a heavily changed Android system made to serve the state. The phone has no internet access and only connects to Kwangmyong, a closed intranet with state-approved content. Every app, function, and message is watched or filtered. Changing the phone to reach outside information is a serious crime. One surprising feature is the phone’s real-time language rewriting. The BBC showed how common South Korean words like “oppa” (boyfriend) automatically change to “comrade,” with warnings saying the original word must only mean siblings. Typing “South Korea” changes instantly to “puppet state,” the regime’s official insult. These changes cannot be turned off. The phone also secretly takes a screenshot every five minutes and stores it in a hidden folder. Users know the folder is there but cannot open it. According to the BBC, only government officials can access these images, creating a visual record of users’ every move. This phone reflects North Korea’s total information lockdown. As BBC correspondent Jean Mackenzie explains, North Korea is the only country fully cut off from the internet. TV, radio, and newspapers are all state-run. Expert Martyn Williams says this control exists because much of the Kim family’s story is false. Despite these rules, foreign media still sneaks into North Korea. Thousands of USB sticks filled with South Korean films, music, and news cross the border monthly. Lee Kwang-baek from South Korea’s Unification Media Group says these shows even make some North Koreans cry and dream. Former resident Kang Gyuri, who fled in 2023, recalled, “I used to think it was normal that the state restricted us so much. But then I realised it was only in North Korea.”