The five-minute screenshot surveillance mechanism represents one of the most invasive features of North Korean smartphones. These devices silently capture screenshots at regular five-minute intervals, storing the images in a hidden folder that remains completely inaccessible to users while being fully available to government authorities for review.12 This surveillance technique creates a comprehensive visual record of all user activity, effectively turning personal devices into state monitoring tools. The screenshots are systematically archived for later inspection, allowing the regime to retroactively investigate user behavior and enforce compliance with state ideology.34

• Screenshots are automatically captured every five minutes on North Korean smartphones

• Images are stored in hidden folders inaccessible to users but available to authorities

• Creates a comprehensive visual record of all user activities

• Effectively transforms personal devices into state surveillance tools

• Screenshots are systematically archived for later government inspection

• Allows retroactive investigation of user behavior

• Enforces compliance with state ideology

• Creates a psychological environment of perpetual observation

• Discourages citizens from attempting to access forbidden content

• According to analyst Martyn Williams, helps the regime "win its internal information war"

• Makes citizens "too scared to engage with" foreign content rather than blocking it entirely5

• Works alongside other control mechanisms like automatic word censorship

• Functions within a broader system lacking internet connectivity

• Creates what former North Korean Kang Gyuri described as a "totalitarian digital environment"

• Many citizens believe this surveillance is normal until exposed to outside media5

North Korean smartphones employ an autocorrection system that functions as a sophisticated linguistic control mechanism:

• Enforces ideological purity through automated text manipulation

• Replaces "oppa" (South Korean term for boyfriends/older male friends) with "comrade"123

• Displays warning messages (e.g., "this word can only be used to refer to siblings")123

• Substitutes "South Korea" with "puppet state" to reflect regime's official stance24

• Implements comprehensive ideological filtering beyond simple word substitution5

• Makes autocorrect dictionary permanent and unmodifiable by users5

• Creates inescapable real-time censorship of hand-typed text

• Forms part of Kim Jong Un's intensified crackdown on "Western influence"2

• Bans South Korean cultural elements including K-pop and K-dramas2

• Works alongside severe punishments, including public executions for consuming South Korean media2

• Integrates digital censorship with the regime's broader system of social control

North Korea consistently refers to South Korea as a "puppet state" in its official communications and technology, reflecting a core propaganda narrative that portrays its southern neighbor as lacking sovereignty and being controlled by the United States. This terminology is deliberately embedded in North Korean smartphones through autocorrection features that automatically replace "South Korea" with "puppet state," reinforcing the regime's ideological position.1 The metaphor serves to delegitimize the South Korean government by characterizing it as lacking independence and resilience.2

• North Korean propaganda consistently labels South Korea as a "puppet state" controlled by the United States

• North Korean smartphones are programmed to autocorrect "South Korea" to "puppet state" through technology

• This metaphor aims to delegitimize South Korea by portraying it as lacking sovereignty and independence

• Kim Jong-un directly called President Yoon Suk-yeol a "puppet" and "an abnormal man" following warnings about nuclear weapons

• North Korean state media reinforces this narrative by claiming South Korea is "just a tool for the U.S."3

• North Korean media asserts the South Korean president is "blindly following the U.S."3

• This propaganda creates an ideological contrast despite North Korea scoring only 3/100 on Freedom House rankings compared to South Korea's 83/1004