North Korea welcomed foreign visitors and firms to a trade fair this week, showcasing home-grown products including the latest model of its sleek Jindallae smartphone.
Diplomatically isolated and under biting sanctions over its nuclear and weapons programmes, North Korea has an ageing manufacturing base which analysts doubt has the ability to make high-quality consumer technology.
Still, Pyongyang has touted Jindallae – “azalea” in Korean – as a convenient way for citizens to stay connected, albeit through a strictly controlled domestic network.
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The devices, which come in a range of colours and feature a large circular camera module with multiple lenses, have been on display at the Pyongyang Spring International Trade Fair, the country’s largest.
Photos showed visitors browsing stalls at the event on Monday, with state media saying “more than 290 enterprises and companies” from North Korea, Russia, China, Mongolia, Switzerland and Thailand were represented.
There was no information on how many people attended or where they had come from.
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