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He might hate the United States, but he sure digs those designed-in-California computers.




You probably wouldn’t take Kim Jong-un as a Mac user. Usually, in photos of him checking out military computers, we see the North Korean dictator in front of a P.C.


[Image: AFP PHOTO / KCNA via KNS]

However, a handful of photos of the supreme leader at his own desk show him with Macs, leading to the assumption that while the military may use PCs, his personal preference is Mac.

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For example, Reuters correspondent James Pearson, who covers North Korea and South Korea, tweeted out this image earlier today:


There are other images, including a 2013 image of Kim Jong-un at his desk with an iMac.




[Image: KCNA via Logsoku ]

That same year, South Korean newspaper Chosun published this photo from North Korean Central News Agency, which shows an Apple iMac.


[Image via Chosun ]

It might be easy to write these off as inconsequential, but considering how North Korea’s own homegrown OS is, as our colleagues at Gizmodo say, a “delightful Mac OS X knockoff.”


[Image via Gizmodo ]



The strongest Mac connection, however, is that Kim Jong-un’s father, Kim Jong-il was a Mac user. Google, sorry Alphabet Inc., president Eric Schmidt visited North Korea a few years back with his daughter Sophie.


After visiting Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the giant state mausoleum, Sophie Schmidt recalled (via Gizmodo):

Also lying in state: the late Leaders’ cars, train compartments and even a yacht, all preserved in their former glory. Even Kim Jong Il’s platform shoes were on display. I was delighted to learn that he and I shared a taste in laptops: 15" Macbook Pro.


Kim Jong-il apparently died in his mobile office on train, and the Macbook Pro can apparently be seen in this photo of the preserved train coach.

So, like father, like son?

Top image: AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File

To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft .



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