A video showing the “state-of-the-art” Pyongyang metro, on which passengers read news via their smartphones, was aired through the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency, Friday.

In the KCNA video, a middle-aged man can be seen scrolling through Rodong Shinmun, the North’s official newspaper, on his smartphone.


Titles of the news articles are shown on the phone screen, in which the names Kim Jong-un and Kim Il-sung, the current leader and nation’s founder, respectively, are highlighted in bold.

The video shows many other passengers in the metro car using smartphones as well, a scene consciously chosen to display how Pyongyang citizens are enjoying up-to-date technologies in their daily lives.


The video also highlighted high-tech facilities installed on the metro, including a TV screen showing live news.

The metro car has been identified as a specialty model launched in October 2015 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Rodong Party’s foundation.


(mjk625@heraldcorp.com)