Unknown North Korean Android Tablet spotted, might be called Samjiyon

North Korea might be working on an Android tablet, according to a photo taken by Wall Street Journal‘s “Korea Realtime” blog, showing Choi Cheol Min of Chosun Computer holding a tablet in his hand at a trade fair in Pyongyang, which is clearly running some version of Android.

Since the device is encased in some sort of case, it’s not clear if the device has been made by Chosum Computer or by another manufacturer. According to WSJ, the boxes behind Mr. Choi have the text “Samjiyon” on them, which is a North Korean tablet that was talked about back in June, and according to those boxes it’s apparently on sale right now, so the tablet featured in the case might be the Samjiyon itself.

There’s no official details on anything on this matter, but it’s possible North Korea is working on a local manufacturer-made Android tablet. Access to Google services would require permission from Google, but it’s likely that the Play Store and other services will not be available on the device. We’ll keep you updated with further info on this, so stay tuned.