When you hear the phrase 10 homegrown north Korean inventions, you might picture cutting‑edge gadgets forged in secret labs. In reality, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea loves to trumpet a parade of home‑grown “innovations” that blend propaganda, clever copy‑cat engineering, and occasional genuine ingenuity. Below we walk you through each of the ten most talked‑about creations, from a folk‑song‑named smartphone to a missile that can reach the Pacific.
10 Arirang Smartphone
The Arirang, borrowing its name from a beloved Korean folk melody, marks North Korea’s inaugural venture into domestic smartphone production. Announced in 2013, state media proudly claimed the device was wholly fabricated on Korean soil, even noting that Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un personally inspected the handset to boost its profile.
Technically, the phone runs a customized version of Android, yet its real‑world utility is limited because the country’s sole mobile operator, Koryolink, only permits domestic calls and a handful of approved web portals on the state‑run intranet. No access to the global Internet means the device functions more like a closed‑circuit communicator than a true smartphone.
Visually, the Arirang bears a striking resemblance to China’s low‑end Uniscope U1201 model, prompting experts to suspect that the phone is actually assembled in China and merely rebadged for propaganda purposes. The design similarity, combined with the lack of transparent supply‑chain data, fuels speculation that the Arirang is a Chinese‑made product shipped to a North Korean façade factory for the regime to claim as its own.
9 Red Star OS
Red Star OS serves as the official operating system of the DPRK, conceived as a home‑grown alternative to the ubiquitous Windows platform. Development kicked off in 2002, and the finished product mimics the visual style of Apple’s macOS while actually being a heavily modified Linux distribution. Its default browser, Naenara—meaning “my country” in Korean—routes users exclusively to the nation’s tightly controlled intranet.
The OS is engineered with surveillance in mind. It embeds a hidden watermarking system that tags files, allowing authorities to trace any foreign media transferred via USB drives. Moreover, any attempt to tamper with core settings, such as disabling the built‑in firewall, triggers an automatic reboot, effectively locking users into a state‑approved computing environment.
8 Junma Luxury Car
The Junma represents the pinnacle of Pyeonghwa Motors’ lineup, a joint venture between a politically active South Korean church and a government‑owned North Korean enterprise. Pyeonghwa holds an exclusive monopoly on automotive manufacturing and sales within the country, and it is the only firm known to run billboard advertising on North Korean streets.
Styled as a “luxury” sedan, the Junma is essentially a copy of a South Korean model that itself copies a mid‑1990s Mercedes‑Benz E‑Class. Its 197‑horsepower engine falls short of contemporary sports‑car performance, but given that ordinary citizens are barred from private vehicle ownership, the Junma is clearly intended for senior officials and elite party members.
Production numbers remain murky, though estimates suggest Pyeonghwa churns out roughly 1,000 vehicles annually. Interestingly, the company does export a modest handful of cars to Vietnam, meaning that a curious collector might actually acquire a Junma outside the hermetic borders of North Korea.
7 Samjiyon Tablet
First released in 2012, the Samjiyon tablet is a North Korean‑made Android device priced at roughly $200. Like the Arirang phone, its built‑in browser only reaches the state‑approved intranet, and the tablet lacks Wi‑Fi capability. Instead, it includes a TV tuner locked onto the two domestic broadcast channels.
The device ships with a surprisingly eclectic app selection: a Chinese‑origin tank game, a localized version of “Angry Birds Rio,” and a reading app stocked with literature about Kim Il Sung, children’s etiquette manuals, and language‑learning tools. Notably, Google’s suite of services—including the Play Store—is absent, meaning users cannot install third‑party apps beyond what the state pre‑loads.
A traveler who purchased a Samjiyon at a Pyongyang souvenir shop reported that the tablet feels “surprisingly impressive” for its era, noting responsive performance and negligible animation lag. Analysts suspect that, despite the Korean branding, the hardware may be assembled partly in China.
6 Type 73 Light Machine Gun
The Type 73 is one of the few indigenous firearm designs fielded by the Korean People’s Army, which otherwise leans heavily on Soviet‑era copies. Its overall silhouette mirrors the Soviet PK machine gun, while its feeding mechanism resembles the Czechoslovakian Vz. 52. A distinctive feature is its dual‑feed capability, allowing operators to fire either from a top‑mounted box magazine or from a belt of ammunition. The weapon’s wooden stock and handguard give it a decidedly retro feel compared with modern polymer‑based machine guns.
Despite its seemingly antiquated design, the Type 73 has surfaced in conflicts far beyond the Korean Peninsula. Iran obtained several units during the Iran‑Iraq war, and later Iranian factories produced their own copies that have been spotted in the hands of pro‑Assad militias in Syria and Houthi rebels in Yemen. For a design that is essentially a copy of a copy, the Type 73 holds up surprisingly well on the battlefield.
5 Kwangmyongsong‑1
Kwangmyongsong‑1, translating to “Bright Star 1,” was North Korea’s maiden satellite launch in August 1998. State media hailed the mission as a triumph, claiming the craft broadcast patriotic hymns in Morse code while orbiting Earth. In reality, the satellite was never detected by U.S. tracking stations, leading experts to conclude it likely entered a low‑altitude orbit before re‑entering the atmosphere and splashing into the ocean.
The design bears a strong resemblance to China’s inaugural satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, which itself echoed an earlier American model. This visual similarity, combined with the lack of verifiable telemetry, did not stop the regime from proclaiming the launch a success, framing it as a testament to the “wise leadership of General Secretary Kim Jong Il” and a boost to national pride.
4 Vinylon Fiber
Vinylon’s origins trace back to the Japanese colonial era, when a Korean chemist, alongside Japanese collaborators, first synthesized the synthetic fiber in 1939. After the Korean War, the inventor defected to the North, and the regime seized the technology, branding it as a home‑grown breakthrough. Under severe sanctions that limited imports of raw materials, Vinylon offered a self‑reliant alternative because it could be produced from locally sourced polyvinyl alcohol.
The Kim government elevated Vinylon to a propaganda emblem, dubbing it the “Juche fiber” after the state ideology of self‑sufficiency. A massive “Vinylon City” plant was erected, and state‑approved songs praised the fabric’s flow, likening it to a “waterfall” of socialist grandeur.
However, Vinylon never truly supplanted imported textiles. Once production surged, the fiber fell out of favor as nylon and other synthetics proved cheaper and more versatile. Today, North Korea still imports large quantities of foreign fabric for uniforms, underscoring the limited long‑term success of the once‑celebrated Juche fiber.
3 Kwangmyong Intranet
North Korean citizens cannot freely roam the global Internet; instead they are confined to a domestic intranet known as Kwangmyong. Accessible only within the country’s borders, Kwangmyong functions as a tightly curated network of government‑approved sites, primarily serving libraries, universities, and official agencies.
Estimates place the total number of Kwangmyong websites between 1,000 and 5,000, all under state control. Visitors encounter the usual news agencies, a dedicated “Supreme Leader’s Activities” section, and even a home‑grown search engine, social media platform, and messaging service. The network’s design is minimalist, with URLs expressed solely as numeric IP addresses rather than human‑readable domain names.
One quirky detail: on Kwangmyong pages, the names of Great Leaders Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung are forced to appear in bold typeface and 20 percent larger than surrounding text, a subtle visual cue reinforcing their elevated status.
2 Manbang Streaming Service
For the relatively privileged North Korean elite with disposable income, the Manbang service offers on‑demand video streaming via a set‑top box launched in 2016. While the catalog is dominated by state‑run news, documentaries, and propaganda‑styled movies, the platform also includes language‑learning programs in English and Russian.
The user interface mirrors that of Western streaming giants, allowing viewers to browse categories and search by keyword. The similarity even caught Netflix’s attention, prompting the global streamer to tweet a tongue‑in‑cheek jab calling Manbang a “knockoff.”
1 Hwasong‑10 Missile
The Hwasong‑10, also known by its NATO reporting name Musudan, represents one of North Korea’s most recent ballistic‑missile endeavors. Capable of reaching U.S. military installations across the Pacific, the missile has been a flashpoint in regional security discussions.
Development did not occur in isolation; North Korea enlisted assistance from friendly communist nations, notably contracting Russian engineers in the 1990s to adapt an older Soviet missile design. This collaboration accelerated the Hwasong‑10’s technical maturity.
Early test flights were fraught with failure: the first two launches aborted, the third covered only a short distance, and the fourth detonated on the launch pad, reportedly killing personnel. Subsequent trials showed improved range, raising alarms that the missile could potentially target Guam, a critical U.S. forward base.
Analyst Brett Fafata, a Hong Kong‑based journalist for the South China Morning Post, has chronicled these developments, highlighting the missile’s evolving capabilities and the geopolitical tension it fuels.
10 Homegrown North Innovations Overview
This roundup showcases the eclectic mix of technology that North Korea claims as its own—from modest tablets and smartphones to ambitious missile programs. Whether genuine breakthroughs or clever re‑branding of foreign hardware, each item reflects the regime’s drive to project self‑reliance and technical prowess on the world stage.