North Korea is reportedly cracking down on the import of Chinese-made smartwatches that are able connect to mobile networks outside of the country via USIM cards.
According to a report from web site Daily NK, citing anonymous sources, smartwatches and other electronic devices are allowed to be imported from China, provided Chinese companies change the operating system to Korean and block features not allowed in North Korea.
However, some devices, including smartwatches, have been imported and circulated in the country without the required modifications. Merchants in Sinuiju have allegedly been selling smartwatches with USIM ports that would enable users to make international phone calls, send text messages, and access WeChat.
According to the report, anyone caught with a USIM-enabled smartwatch will be subject to interrogation and have the watch confiscated. Merchants are also being detained and questioned to determine if they sold the smartwatches knowing that they had USIM ports.
Ironically, the source said, most people who buy USIM-enabled smartwatches likely don’t even know the devices have illegal features because the instruction manuals are written only in Chinese.
“Even if an individual can prove that they only used the smartwatch with a Bluetooth connection without inserting a USIM card, they can still be punished for simply having a USIM-enabled device,” the source told Daily NK.
The crackdown comes as demand for high-end Chinese smartwatches is soaring among young North Koreans, according to a separate report on Daily NK.
Huawei’s TalkBand B7 – which has a detachable Bluetooth earpiece for calls – is so popular that merchants keep running out of stock, the report said.
While legal smartwatches are stripped of most features apart from phone calls, SMS and telling the time, young people still buy them mainly as status symbols, an anonymous source told the web site: “It’s trendy to wear the watches to show how well you’re doing, even if you can’t use all the functions.”
The smartwatch trend also comes amid a general surge in demand for cellphone peripherals and accessories, including wireless chargers, Bluetooth speakers, straps, cases, and cradles, the report added.
