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| A growing number of North Koreans use South Korean smart phones to use free mobile messenger, KakaoTalk. |
By Cho Hyun-eui
It has been found that KakaoTalk, a free mobile messenger application for smartphones developed in Korea, is used in North Korea, New Focus reported Tuesday.
Last year, a group of North Korean inspectors ran a random inspection in a private home and heard the alert sound of KakaoTalk. The family was caught in the act and eventually sent to prison camps for communicating with South Korea.
North Koreans often used Chinese phones to contact their families in South Korea. However, South Korean phones are becoming more popular these days because users can share photos and videos easily with South Korean families.
There is no limit on the length of KakaoTalk messages so the charge is cheaper.
Also KakaoTalk is not detected by the state political security department's radar system.
Especially, North Koreans like to share photos via KakaoTalk with their families.
A large number of South Korean phones are used in North Korea these days and KakaoTalk appears become a new means of communication between North and South Korea.
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