A Russian travel agency specializing in North Korean tours recently released an exclusive peek inside a smartphone factory in the secretive nation. This intriguing glimpse seems designed to captivate potential Russian tourists and boost interest in North Korean travel experiences.
On Thursday, Vostok Intour, a Vladivostok-based travel agency, took to their Telegram channel to showcase North Korea’s smartphone manufacturing prowess. The agency boasted that they hit the jackpot with a visit to the Jindallae No. 11 Factory, one of North Korea’s top smartphone producers, sharing tantalizing footage of the facility’s inner workings.
The video offers a fascinating look at the production line, featuring high-tech equipment like liquid crystal display (LCD) transfer devices, automatic adhesive applicators and curing machines, multi-functional component placers, screw-tightening robots, and even smartphone vibration and shock testing apparatus. Eagle-eyed viewers can spot factory workers in uniform meticulously inspecting smartphone displays and packaging, ensuring quality at every step.
According to the travel agency, while these smartphones might look similar to Chinese models on the surface, there’s a crucial difference: they’re tailor-made for North Korea’s unique digital ecosystem. The factory reportedly boasts an impressive lineup of 30 different models to suit every taste, churning out a whopping 500,000 units each year.
In a bid to wow potential customers, the agency claims these smartphones pack some serious punch, featuring cutting-edge 200-megapixel cameras and running on the latest Android 14 operating system.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard buzz about North Korea’s smartphone ambitions. Last August, the Choson Sinbo, a newspaper affiliated with pro-North Korean residents in Japan, reported that the Jindallae smartphone factory had seriously upped its game with state-of-the-art production facilities. The report boasted that the factory had achieved a coveted level 10 production rating and could independently manufacture hundreds of thousands of smartphones.
While smartphone ownership in the capital city of Pyongyang is reportedly sky-high at over 70%, the picture in rural areas is quite different, with less than half that penetration rate. A 2024 report from the U.S.-based Stimson Center estimates that around 6.5 to 7 million North Koreans – about a quarter of the population – are smartphone users.