North Korean defectors living in South Korea are surprisingly well informed about the situations of their families in North Korea. One defector learned that his family moved into a new and bigger house the week before with money he somehow had smuggled in through China. Another defector heard that his mother and sister had been released from a prison earlier this month.
How does the news travel so fast from a country so closed to the outside world? The answer is mobile telephones.
North Korea started mobile telephone service early this summer in very limited areas and to a limited number of clients. To get mobile telephone service, you have to pay a subscription fee of 1,000 Won, which is equivalent to almost one yearÕs wages for ordinary North Korean workers. And the service area is very limited.
In the past, North Korean defectors in South Korea had people in China smuggle in Chinese mobile phones for their families, and had family members travel near the Chinese border where they could take advantage of the Chinese transmission service. All they needed was a Chinese mobile telephone. Because of the limited availability of batteries and chargers, family members turn on the mobile phone only at a prearranged time. Then, the defectorÕs friends or relatives in China call the family in the North Korean border area or vice versa. When the connection is made, the person in China calls the defector in South Korea and the three-way talk begins.
Now that China is building more transmission posts along the border area, families can directly call their family members in South Korea. As a result, more Chinese-Koreans in border cities of Dandong and Yanji are purchasing mobile phones to send to North Korea.
A mobile phone shopkeeper in Yanji said last month that South KoreaÕs Samsung brand is the most popular model. ÒUnlike Chinese-made mobile phones, you have to buy a separate chip and attach it to Samsung phone to make it work in China,Ó said the shopkeeper at Yanji ÒStill, Samsung model is considered to be a luxury item and most sought after even though it is more expensive.Ó A used Samsung mobile phone is traded at around 600 Yuan ($60). A new one is sold at 1,000 Yuan while the Chinese model is traded at around 200 Yuan.
Recent defectors and Chinese-Koreans who frequently visit North Korea say that North Korean security forces have stepped up patrols along the border cities to control this new and unwelcome form of communications.
