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Piggy-backing on this, a few words and pictures on Kim's smartphone, as seen in state-run media (1/10)
Kim was first spotted with a smartphone in February 2013, at a meeting of top security advisers. The phone is believed to be an HTC model. It is not blurred. (2/10) news.com.au/technology/wha… 
Perhaps uneasy with the political implications of using a foreign smart phone, in August 2013, Kim did some on-the-spot guidance at a factory which makes the Arirang, North Korea's first smart phone. (3/10)
While assembled in North Korea, the Arirang's components are likely of foreign origin. They do come with knock-off versions of @AngryBirds and @sonic_hedgehog, though! (4/10)
Kim brought his phone along to witness the solid-fuel SRBM tests this May. Like @ArmsControlWonk said, we noticed that state media was very keen to blur out the phone. (5/10)
We used Tungstène digital photo interpretation software to see exactly where the image was blurred. (Note the dark purple area). It appears that the phone blurred was intentional, and not incidental to the blurring of the map. (6/10)
NK state media is far less concerned about other objects that clutter Kim's desk--note the packs of cigarettes on the map in front of Kim, clear as a bell. (7/10)
So does this signify that NK uses cell phones for crisis communications? Pretty good chance. This from 38 North suggests that they were concerned about satellite interception of cell phone communications. (8/10) 38north.org/2019/07/mwilli…
This is concerning, because you can't count on a cell phone network to function in a crisis. This is one of the lessons learned from the Boston Marathon bombing. (9/10)
In a crisis, panicked mobile users will strain the network with calls and texts. Some might be playing bootleg Angry Birds. An escalating nuclear stand-off could be a disastrous time for a network outage (10/10)
