Kim Jong-un and the mysterious smartphone

This photo, published by North Korean media, captures the brilliant comrade Kim Jong-un at a meeting with national security advisers, writes Telegraph. In addition, on her, on the table next to Kim’s hand, a black smartphone is visible.

In South Korea, keenly interested in this picture. One Seoul official told Agence France-Presse: “It is believed that the smartphone belonged to Kim, given that the device was located in close proximity to the documents he was looking at.”

In the South Korean media, a discussion arose over the smartphone manufacturer of the DPRK Top Executive. Among the options were called South Korean Samsung, Taiwanese HTC and Apple iPhone maker. And apparently, friend Kim uses HTC.

Samsung disowned the phone right away. According to the company, none of the Galaxy models crossed the border, and this is definitely not a Samsung phone.

An official from Seoul said that the photo was analyzed by South Korean intelligence agencies and came to the conclusion that HTC is most likely the manufacturer. A Taiwanese company declined to identify the device, but said in a statement that the company appreciates "support for all users."

South Korean journalists immediately decided that the brand was chosen for political reasons: "It would be politically inconvenient for Kim Jong-un to use products made in the US ... and he cannot publicly support the fact that the South is more technologically advanced."

Although North Koreans live in perhaps the most informationally isolated society on the planet, the country is not quite an IT desert. In 2002, an internal Intranet appeared here, and in 2008, mobile phones through a joint venture with Egyptian telecommunications company Orascom.

However, one million mobile subscribers can only call each other, but not outside the country, and the Intranet is similarly cut off from the rest of the global network.