Name: North Korea’s secrets revealed by phone: Study: BBC Learning English from the News
Uploaded: 2025-06-07T14:49:36.000Z
Duration: 7 min 44 s
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From BBC Learning English, this is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

In this programme, what a North Korean smartphone reveals about the country.

In this programme, we look at one big news story and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode, as well as a worksheet on our website bbclearningenglish.com.

The BBC has gained access to a North Korean phone that has been smuggled out of the country.

The phone doesn't have access to the internet and is designed to make sure its users follow the rules in North Korea, which is closely controlled by its leader, Kim Jong-un.

The phone creates a screenshot every five minutes which, according to the BBC report, is used by authorities to watch the user.

Let's have our first headline. This one is from Ladbible.

This headline is about how the phone has been designed by Kim Jong-un's regime.

And we're interested in the adjective chilling. What can you tell us, Neil?

Chilling in this headline means scary or frightening, but chill as a noun means a feeling of cold.

And so if something is chilling, literally, it makes you feel cold.

Yes. In English, we commonly associate being cold with being frightened.

For example, you might say a scary thing sent a shiver down your spine.

A shiver is the movement your muscles do when you're cold.

Or a scary thing could be described as giving you goosebumps, and that's the bumps on your skin that you usually get when you feel cold.

So in the headline, the smartphone shows chilling details implemented by Kim Jong-un's regime. It shows details that are frightening.

Just a note, we can use chill informally in a very different way to mean relaxed.

So, for example, I could say I like to chill on the beach with my friends.

Yes, but chilling as an adjective always means scary, and you can use the context of the sentence to help you know the difference.

For example, I read a chilling story about a ghost and now I can't sleep.

This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

Today we're talking about a phone which helps show what life is like in North Korea.

The phone examined by the BBC is quite different to smartphones you might find in the rest of the world.

One of the differences is that the autocorrect on the phone changes some Korean words.

Autocorrect is the software on your phone which corrects mistakes such as spelling errors.

But on the North Korean phone, certain words are changed so they fit with the beliefs of the government.

Yes, so for example, when you type South Korea, the phone will autocorrect the word to puppet state, which is what Kim Jong-un's government calls the South.

Let's have another headline. This one's from India Today.

This headline is talking about the autocorrect on the North Korean phone and gives another example.

The word oppa, which is used to mean brother or boyfriend in South Korea, autocorrects to comrade.

We're interested in this phrase party line. What's a party line, Pippa?

Well, we're not talking about birthday parties here.

We're talking about political parties or official political organisations.

And a party line is a particular political organisation's official opinion or position about something.

Yes, so the headline writer says that the North Korean phone uses autocorrect to fit the party line.

It changes what people write so that it fits with the beliefs of the government.

We commonly hear follow the party line and we can also toe the party line, which means accept the party's beliefs.

We see party line used a lot in political stories, but we can also use it more generally, just meaning to stick to the official position.

So, for example, a CEO might follow the party line in an interview.

It means they stick to the company's official position about something.

We've had party line – official opinion of an organisation about a particular issue.

For example, the mayor didn't say anything new in her speech, just the usual party line.

This is Learning English from the News from BBC Learning English.

We're talking about a phone from North Korea and what it reveals about the country.

North Korea is isolated from the rest of the world. People from North Korea cannot easily access information from outside the country and it's also difficult for the rest of the world to know what life is really like for people living in the country.

That's why the phone is so interesting – because it helps show us what life is like for people in North Korea and how the government controls things.

Let's have another headline, this one from Futurism.

This smartphone smuggled out of North Korea is absolutely wild.

OK, so the headline describes the phone in the story as absolutely wild.

Now, Pippa, wild makes me think of animals, so what's going on here?

Well, yes, literally if an animal or plant is wild, it means it lives independently from humans – it's uncontrolled. But we use wild metaphorically in a few different contexts.

Here in the headline, wild means strange or unexpected. This is a very informal headline, which is talking about just how different the North Korean phone is and how strange that might seem.

We can also use wild in a slightly different way to mean uncontrolled or lively.

For example, a party or event can be wild.

Yes, and one final use of wild – if a theory or rumour or claim is described as wild, it means it's extreme and possibly not true.

For example, some people say that the world is flat – it's a pretty wild theory.

We've had wild – strange or unexpected.

For example, this TV show is wild – I have no idea what's going to happen next.

That's it for this episode of Learning English from the News.

We'll be back next week with another news story.

If you've enjoyed this programme, try the worksheet on our website to test what you've learned.

You can also follow us on social media – search BBC Learning English.