Half Monk 697 Report post Posted August 13, 2013 North Korea is treated like a pariah in the rest of the world, but that doesn't stop it benefiting from open-source software. Android is the latest example, with the country moving to create the Arirang - its first smartphone. 'Create' might be the wrong word, as it turns out. The official Korean photos show precisely no manufacturing, leading to the suggestion it's Chinese-built, Korean-boxed. It seems the first site to break news of the phone's existence was Japanese. Running Google Translate suggests the phone is actually manufactured in North Korea: Arirang is and has been produced in 5.11 factory in North Korea. It might seem like a weird move for the notoriously quiet country to begin welcoming technology, but it could be justified after all. As we previously reported, there is a trend in the country, with citizens becoming more globally aware through piracy. By introducing a governmentally approved phone, there's the possibility of limiting this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkM_LXUCMeA&feature=player_embedded The Arirang derives its name from a folk song unofficially considered Korea's national anthem. There's no word on the phone's specifications, but we can't imagine many ROMs hitting XDA for it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites