The phones and the iMac of Kim Jong-un

Last week, North Korea said that it entered a "state of war" with neighboring South Korea. According to a report from the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) this includes a threat to "dissolve" the United States mainland too.

On Friday, March 29, KCNA also released some pictures of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, giving a rare look at some of his communications equipment:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides over an urgent operation meeting
at the Supreme Command in Pyongyang, March 29, 2013.
(Photo: KCNA through Reuters)

Quite surprisingly we see that at the right side of the table, there's an aluminum unibody iMac computer (with a corded keybord and mouse). This computer is made by the American manufacturer Apple and is an iconic capitalist lifestyle item.

If this isn't a fake remake, it's a bit strange that we see this computer here, because there's a full US embargo for exporting products to North Korea. Probably the iMac came in from China, the only ally of the communist republic.

The whole arrangement looks very much like propaganda, and we can doubt whether the iMac is very functional: with a close look we can see that the yellow ethernet cable lies disconnected next to it.

At the left side of the table there are three white telephone sets (no red one!). These phones seem to be the same as the one we can see in the picture below, which looks like a quite ordinary office phone:

Kim Jong-un smoking a cigaratte in an empty looking launch control center,
after Pyongyang successfully launched a satellite into space

Earlier in March, North Korea already disconnected various hotlines with South Korea. One hotline, which is maintained by the international Red Cross and runs through the truce village of Panmunjom, was cut off on March 11. This also happened with another hotline, which connects to the US-led United Nations Command at the border.

On March 27, North Korea also cut off a military hotline with South Korea, that allows cross-border travel to the jointly run Kaesong industrial complex in the North. This hotline, which actually consists of four telephone lines, is used to communicate about the daily cross-border traffic of about 900 workers and cargo traveling back and forth to the Kaesong complex.

Now there is still one active hotline left (consisting of three phone lines), linking the civil aviation authorities of North and South Korea.


Sources and Links
- Reconstruction: North Korean Photo Reveals ‘U.S. Mainland Strike Plan’
- Article about North Korea Cuts Off the Remaining Military Hot Lines With South Korea
- Article in Dutch: Kim Jong-Un plant wereldoorlog op verouderde iMac