The Notel, also called NoteTel (a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsnotebook A notebook (also known as a notepad, writing pad, drawing pad, or legal pad) is a book or stack of paper pages that are often ruled and used for purposes such as note-taking, journaling or other writing, drawing, or scrapbooking. History ...

" and "

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

"), is a brand of

portable media player A portable media player (PMP) (also including the related digital audio player (DAP)) is a portable consumer electronics device capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, and video files. The data is typically stored o ...

made in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

which is popular in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. The device has USB and SD ports, can play DVDs and EVDs (

enhanced versatile disc The enhanced versatile disc (EVD) is an optical-medium-based digital audio/video format, developed by Beijing E-World (a multi-company partnership including SVA, Shinco, Xiaxin, Yuxing, Skyworth, Nintaus, Malata, Changhong, and BBK Electronic ...

s, which are physically identical to DVDs but use a different file format), and contains a radio and TV tuner. 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. After an earlier crackdown that caused their black market prices to drop, the devices were legalized in December 2014. 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 The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...

(ca. US$50), and are present in up to one in two urban households, according to some estimations. 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 Media consumption or media diet is the sum of information and entertainment media taken in by an individual or group. It includes activities such as interacting with new media, reading books and magazines, watching television and film, and li ...

: A North Korean DVD can be placed in the device while a South Korean 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 as an alternative explanation.

References

Portable media players Censorship in North Korea North Korean culture Chinese brands

See also

References