While the vast majority of North Korean citizens have never laid hands upon a smartphone, their leader Kim Jong-Un gets a few special privileges. It comes with the territory of being the heir to power in the notoriously closed-off society. It should come as no surprise that the pudgy dictator owns a smartphone, nor the fact that the HTC Butterfly is his current mobile of choice.

In reality, Kim Jong-Un has few options when it comes to the phone he wields. Samsung and LG, both manufactured in rival South Korea, are obviously off the table. As is Sony with its Japanese roots. The North Korean tyrant wouldn’t waste a second considering the iPhone or a Motorola device out of hatred for the United States. So his only choices rest with manufacturers based out out of China or nearby Taiwan.

And when you want to position yourself as the most-esteemed political figure in the world, you better go big. So the 5-inch Butterfly with its high-end spec sheet fits the bill nicely. Meanwhile, residents of North Korea have little access to mobile technology, which is more than a little backwards. But that’s the way things go in North Korea.

[via UnwiredView]