NK can't get enough of Arirang phone

Japanese news outlet Kyodo News reported Sunday about spiking interest in North Korea for its own smartphone brand Arirang.

According to the news, despite having no text messaging applications, Internet connection and overseas phone call capability, Arirang is a must have for those in their 20s and 30s. Although the phones fall short function-wise compared to other Arirangs reserved for foreigners (who can text, surf the Internet and make overseas phone calls), the phones have become a must-have among the young.

Kyodo News said that Arirang “sells at hefty 40,000 yen ($376) but it’s causing no hindrance to the public’s frenzy,” and that its “distribution is being monopolized together by an Egyptian entrepreneur and a North Korean company known as Korea Link.”

The state leader Kim Jong-eun visited the factory manufacturing Arirang and gave a guidance talk to the staffs, the news added.