Kim Jong-un may be using Samsung Galaxy foldable, photo shows

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Kim Jong-un may be using Samsung Galaxy foldable, photo shows

Published: 13 Jul. 2023, 12:24 Updated: 13 Jul. 2023, 14:20

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches the launching of an intercontinental ballistic missiles fired on Tuesday. The photo, which was released by the Korean Central News Agency, shows a foldable smartphone placed on the corner of the desk. [KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY]

Could North Korean leader Kim Jong-un be using a Samsung Galaxy foldable smartphone?

North Korean state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Thursday released a photo of Kim watching the launching of an intercontinental ballistic missile the previous day.

On the corner of a desk in front of Kim is a smartphone, between a pack of cigarettes and an ashtray.

Other personal items on the desk included a can of soda and a box of matches.

The smartphone's brand and model are unclear as the device is wrapped in a dark-colored cover.

However, the image clearly shows that the smartphone is a foldable, which takes the shape of either a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip or Huawei P50.

Samsung has a dominant hold on the global foldable smartphone market, with 62 percent last year, according to Counterpoint Research. Huawei trails behind with 16 percent and Oppo at 3 percent.

The smartphone could have been smuggled through China.

Kim Jong-un at an artiliery drill in March. The picture shows a flat smartphone placed on th desk. [KOREAN NEWS AGENCY]

Kim until March was spotted owning an ordinary flat smartphone, which appeared in a photo released by KCNA when watching an artillery drill with his daughter Ju-ae in March.

Under the United Nations Security Council Resolution adopted in 2017, all electronic devices are banned from being exported to North Korea.

It is well known that Kim is keenly interested in the latest electronic devices.

In a picture that showed Kim overseeing the testing of large-size multiple rocket launchers in August 2019 was a tablet placed on a stand along with matches, a pack of cigarettes and a binocular.

The device had the logo of Apple on it.

However, the back of the tablet, presumed to be an iPad, didn't show where it was built or the serial number.

Kim Jong-un’s iPad on a desk where he was overseeing the testing of large-size multiple rocket launchers in August 2019. [KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY]

In 2015 when South Korean reporters visited North Korea for a youth football tournament, they reported on electronic devices that were on display at the International Friendship Exhibition, which is a museum complex in Mount Myohyang, North Pyongan Province.

The museum displays gifts that Kim's grandfather and his father Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong-il received from foreign leaders.

The section that displayed the items that Kim Jong-un received included a Lenovo laptop Thinkpad T410 and what appears to be an early iPad model.

BY IM SOUNG-BIN, LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]