It also appears that Kim Yo-jong, a vice director of the Labor Party, uses a foldable smartphone. The North Korean elite, including Kim Jong-un, chairman of the State Affairs Commission, and Hyun Song-wol, a party vice director, are presumed to use the latest smartphones.
In a photo of the completion ceremony for Guseong City Hospital in North Pyongan Province reported by the Korean Central News Agency on the 14th, Kim Yo-jong, vice director of the Labor Party, is holding a smartphone in her right hand.
Earlier, the Choson Sinbo, the organ of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, reported that North Korea produces its own brand of smartphones, but based on the appearance, it is presumed to be the Magic series of foldable phones by the Chinese smartphone brand Honor.
If the smartphone Kim Yo-jong has is brought in from China, that constitutes a violation of U.N. sanctions on North Korea. U.N. Security Council Resolution 2397 on sanctions against North Korea bans imports and exports of electronic devices to the North.
Photos reported by North Korean media have repeatedly shown members of the elite using foldable phones. In July 2023, a foldable phone that folds vertically was placed on the table in front of Kim Jong-un, chairman of the State Affairs Commission, as he watched the test launch of the Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
A month earlier, Hyun Song-wol, a party vice director, was also identified in photos holding a foldable phone at a plenary meeting.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that in many cases North Korea procures smartphones produced by Chinese corporations through original equipment manufacturing (OEM) and sells them domestically.