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North Korea may be crippled by food shortages, but the Kim regime has still found the resources to release a new smartphone incapable of accessing information about the outside world.

And though the country likes to boast of its self-reliance, the new gadget appears to have been made in China.

The handset, dubbed the Pyongyang 2425, is powered by an eight-core processor, has facial recognition technology and can be charged wirelessly.

But it's incapable of connecting to foreign WiFi and won't even allow users to open photos and ringtones that come on the phone as standard.

(Image: Credit: Pen News)

However, users can connect to state-run 'Mirae' WiFi, an intranet network, allowing them to catch up on propaganda on-the-go.

South Korean news service Daily NK, having acquired one of the new phones, checked its serial number and found it was made by a Chinese manufacturer.

Experts say the phones were likely imported as a finished product before North Korean software was installed.

(Image: Credit: Pen News) (Image: Credit: Pen News)

"North Korea could have ordered the production of the phones with the mutual understanding that they would replace the software," one expert told Daily NK on condition of anonymity.

"While changing the software can lead to some problems in functionality, regardless of the type of hardware used, North Korea could have changed the phone's software after importing it."

Propaganda photos of the new gadget showed that apps for learning Chinese and English can be installed, along with a government-approved encyclopedia and a weather app.

(Image: Credit: Pen News)

There's also a library app, which resembles past incarnations of Apple Books and appears to give users access to state-sanctioned reading material.

However, because of the lack of internet, North Koreans haven't previously been able to download apps themselves and have had to go into physical stores where technicians install them.

It's unclear whether that will change with the Pyongyang 2425.

(Image: Credit: Pen News)

"The Pyongyang 2425 comes with enhanced features, praised by many customers," boasted one propaganda outlet.

"Its eight-core CPU has boosted the processing speed by 150% and the touchscreen experience has become smoother.

"Facial recognition features use an infrared camera that allows users to unlock the screen even in dark places without having to place their fingers or type in a password."

(Image: Credit: Pen News)

Approximately 40% of North Koreans use smartphones, according to research conducted by the North-East Asia Community ICT Forum.

Propaganda suggests the phones are used to play games, read books, listen to music, do karaoke, learn to cook, and even to increase crop output.

A joint-survey by the UN and the World Food Programme found that high temperatures, drought in some areas and flooding in others had severely harmed the 2018 autumn harvest in North Korea.

As a consequence, the survey said, more than 10 million of the country's 25 million people were now facing food insecurity.