On May 9, , North Korean state media showed Kim Jong Un at the second firing of a new short-range ballistic missile. North Korea released two high-resolution images of Kim sitting at a desk, his phone on the table in front of him. These are the only two high-resolution images that North Korea has ever released in which the phone was visible.
In both images the phone was severely blurred, preventing any identification. Someone had gone out of his or her way to hide the phone, underscoring the sensitivity of the object. For example, the cell phone was shown in four images after a July 31, missile test. But these images were not released, only broadcast on television in low-resolution.
Similarly, the phone appeared in a single image after an August 2, missile test, but only as a low-resolution image published by Rodong Sinmun. The phone also appeared on August 24, , but out of focus, and again on September 19, face down. There are different reasons that Kim might be sensitive about the details of his smart phone. Some have naturally speculated that perhaps the phone is of foreign manufacture and that North Korea was eager to avoid the embarrassing speculation of Another possibility is that the phone is domestically manufactured—but is used for sensitive communications.
This would suggest that North Korean censors are comfortable with outsiders knowing that Kim Jong Un uses a smartphone but uncomfortable with details or high-resolution images that might compromise security. The idea that Kim Jong Un might rely on his smart phone for crisis communications is disconcerting. Cellular networks are notoriously undependable during crises because they tend to be overwhelmed by calls and text messages from worried individuals. There were widespread cellular service outages after both the September 11, terrorist attacks and the Boston Marathon bombing, where cellular networks were overwhelmed and emergency responders had to depend on radio communications.
If one network goes down, the whole system might fail or become unreliable. Surprising things can happen. One hopes that Kim Jong Un would understand that it was a network problem and not the beginning of an attack causing his communications outage—but nuclear command-and-control should not rely on hope.
The pilot flew at an unusually high altitude as a safety measure, something that unexpectedly interfered with communications channels. Some officials briefly worried that their inability to communicate was the result of sabotage.
Recently, there was an outcry after it was revealed that Huawei and another Chinese company had helped North Korea deploy encryption on its channel for special users on its cellular network. But we should be relieved, not worried about Kim having confidence in his communications. Korea moving forward with construction of new housing along border. Checking up on North Korean workers stranded in Russia.
North Koreans struggling with high prices, banknote shortages, and tougher ideological…. The Pyongyang Hamgyong Province party committee holds meeting about progress in improving childrearing policies. Recent Articles. Hamgyong Province party committee holds meeting about progress in improving Korea moving forward with construction of new housing along border Checking up on North Korean workers stranded in Russia Load more.
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