Advertising Considered Anti-Socialist...
Product Placement Seen as Unusual
Promotion Aimed at Stimulating Consumption Among Affluent Groups
North Korean television has aired a program providing instructions on how to use mobile phones (smartphones), featuring products in a manner similar to commercial advertising. This is unusual in North Korea, where the state monopolizes advertising.
According to Yonhap News on June 22, Korean Central TV broadcast a program on the 21st titled "Things to Know When Using Mobile Phones," stating that "mobile phones are an indispensable item in our daily lives."
The program provided informational content such as minimizing exposure to electromagnetic waves when using mobile phones, adjusting screen brightness to reduce eye fatigue, and precautions when charging batteries. However, scenes where the smartphone's exterior was shown in close-up appeared frequently, leading some viewers to perceive it as resembling a commercial advertisement.
The same program was repeated on the 18th, and at that time, it included a scene that closely displayed the product's exterior along with the instruction "charge only up to 80%." The featured product was a foldable smartphone from the "Madusan" brand, equipped with a dual front camera and a triple rear camera. Another model was shown to have a quad rear camera.
A foldable smartphone from the "Madusan" brand featured in a smartphone usage program on North Korea's Korean Central TV. Yonhap News
According to a 2024 report by Martin Williams, a researcher at the U.S. think tank the Crimson Center, the number of mobile phone subscribers in North Korea has reached between 6.5 million and 7 million, and the number of smartphone models has approximately doubled in the past two years. Currently, about ten companies are competing in the smartphone and feature phone markets, with most devices being Chinese OEM products rebranded with North Korean company names.
It is rare in North Korea, where the state monopolizes advertising, for a specific brand of smartphone to be prominently featured on television. While Central TV has occasionally aired commercial advertisements for food, beverages, and restaurants, it generally refrains from frequent advertising, as advertising is considered a "non-socialist element" under socialism.
As a result, some analysts believe that this introduction of a smartphone brand may indicate that the authorities have deliberately begun promoting it. There is speculation that the intent is to raise brand awareness and stimulate consumption among consumer groups with purchasing power inside the country.
In addition, North Korean smartphones are not merely consumer goods. According to reports by the BBC and others, North Korean smartphones have built-in user surveillance features, such as automatically changing references to "South Korea" to "puppet state" and taking screenshots every five minutes, which are then stored in hidden folders.
Therefore, there is speculation that the authorities may be pursuing a complex strategy of using smartphones both as tools for state propaganda and as instruments of surveillance.
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