Notel

Notel (Korean: 노텔), also called NoteTel, is a brand of portable media player made in China which is popular in North Korea. The word is a portmanteau of "notebook" and "television". It is estimated that up to half of all urban North Korean households have a notel.^[1][2]

The device has USB and SD ports, can play DVDs and EVDs, and contains radio and television tuners. It can also be powered and recharged from a car battery.^[3]

History

Notels have been popular in North Korea since around 2005, significantly facilitating the extension of the "Korean Wave" (Hallyu, the increase of the popularity of South Korean pop culture internationally) into the isolated country.^[4][5]

In 2014, a notel's price was U.S. $65 though crackdown caused their prices to drop to U.S. $41.^[6] The devices were legalized in December 2014.^[7] As of 2015, they are available in some government stores (possession must be registered) as well as selling on the black market for around 300 Chinese yuan (ca. US$50), and are present in up to one in two urban households, according to some estimations.^[8][1] In China, Notels are no longer popular as of 2015 due to the proliferation of smartphones, but sell well in the provinces that border on North Korea.

According to defectors, the Notel's multi-format support is used for evading detection of illegal media consumption: A North Korean disc can be placed in the device while a South Korean or foreign video is played from a USB drive or the SD card, which could be easily removed in case government inspectors arrive and check the device's temperature to see if it has been recently used, leaving the DVD disc as an alternative explanation.^[8]

See also

• Censorship in North Korea
• Arirang (smartphone)
• Samjiyon tablet computer

References

1. Pearson, James (27 March 2015). "The $50 device that symbolizes a shift in North Korea". Reuters. Seoul.
2. Gallagher, Sean (27 March 2015). "A $50 device is breaking North Korean government's grip on media". Ars Technica.
3. "North Korea's must-have gadget is a $50 media player". Engadget. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
4. "Cheap Chinese EVD player spreads S. Korean culture in N. Korea". Yonhap. 22 October 2013. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
5. "Diffusion de la vague coréenne "hallyu" au Nord par TV portable". Yonhap News Agency (in French). 22 October 2013.
6. Lipes, Joshua (28 February 2014). "North Koreans Tuning Into Miniature Radios Following DVD Crackdown". Radio Free Asia.
7. Greenberg, Andy (15 March 2015). "The Plot to Free North Korea With Smuggled Episodes of 'Friends'". Wired.
8. Pearson, James (28 March 2015). "Portable media players give North Koreans an illicit window on the world". Seoul: Reuters. Retrieved 9 April 2015 – via the Guardian.