老外的测评，很详细。我决定还是慢慢来翻译吧，有时间就来一段，当复习英语了。。。。、告诉一个大家最想知道的，平板的核心是MTK65XX（我估计是6577......）图我一会慢慢来。我这人挺懒的，基本上一天就来一段，最近考试，有时候能两三天不更新= =
The North Korean Tablet Computer Samjiyon: Hardware, Software and Resources
A 38 North Product Review by Ruediger Frank
A few months ago the ever-growing community of those interested in the DPRK learned that there is now something like a local version of theiPad—the Samjiyon tablet computer 。After having had a chance to test it briefly during a visit in May 2013, I could not resist buying a Samjiyon in a shop in Pyongyang in September 2013. It cost me 180 Euros. After a few days of intensive use I can say that this is one of the few cases in my career as a consumer when I got more for my money than I had expected.
几个月前，一个研究朝鲜的组织发现，现在有类似ipad的本地版本的三池渊平板电脑。2013年5月，在有机会短暂地体验过该平板后，2013年9月我忍不住在平壤一家商店购买了“三池渊”。我花了180欧元。经过几天密集的使用，我可以说，这是在我作为一个消费者的生涯中少数几次物超所值的购物。
A necessary disclaimer first: No, this gadget is not available to all North Koreans; just as a Mercedes Benz S-class sedan is out of reach for most Germans. The existence of this tablet does not in any way change the fact that the DPRK is, for many of its people, a country of hard manual labor and simple living conditions. It is a developing country with an economy that has been devastated by decades of socialist inefficiency. Most North Koreans are worried about food and heating, not about electronic gadgets. But, just as there are now more than 2 million mobile phones in North Korea, the Samjiyon tablets exist and highlight one facet of this increasingly diyerse society. The name of the device is ideologically correct: Samjiyŏn near Mt. Paektu is the place of a major anti-Japanese battle of 1939 commemorated by a large monument. This reminds us that the tablet is not just another toy of a typical consumer-oriented society. It is a useful and entertaining device for a minority in a totalitarian system with a dominant ideology.
一个必要的否定性声明：第一，这东西并不是朝鲜人都能买得起的，就像德国人一般也买不起奔驰S轿车一样。这款平板电脑的存在，不以任何方式改变在朝鲜很多人都在从事艰苦的体力劳动却过着贫苦生活的事实。这是一个已经饱受几十年的社会主义低效经济摧残的发展中国家。大多数朝鲜人担心食物和取暖，不是这些电子小玩意。但是，就像现在有超过2亿的手机在朝鲜， 三池渊平板存在并且突出了一个日益多样化的社会。这个设备的名称思想上颇为恰当：三池渊临近白头山（咱们叫长白山）是一个纪念1939年抗日斗争的纪念碑的所在地。这提醒我们，平板电脑是不仅仅是以消费者为导向的社会的另一种玩具。这是一个在少数人占主导地位的意识形态的极权制度下的有用、有意思的玩应儿。
Hardware
The model I bought is the SA-70. Built in March 2013, it is not the latest version. Michael, who reviewed another Samjiyon here, obviously got a better deal than I did. I saw and briefly used an even more advanced Samjiyon in September 2013 but was unable to get it this time.
硬件
我所购买的型号为SA-70。2013年3月生产，这不是最新的版本。迈克尔，我们这另一位搞到三池渊平板的人，显然比我的版本高。我在2013年9月见过并简单使用过更先进的三池渊平板，但是我这回没拿到它。
My SA-70 has a 1 GHzCPU, 1 GB RAM, 4 GB internal memory and a card slot equipped with an 8 GB micro SD memory card. The 7-inch screen has a resolution of 800x480 pixels, making it the only hardware component that is markedly below standard, at least for someone like me who owns an iPad 4 and a Google Nexus 7. The quality of the screenshots, however, is remarkably good; they have the same resolution as the screen and are saved locally as .png files.
我的SA-70拥有1GHz的CPU，1GBRAM，4GB内部存储器和配备8GB的微型SD存储卡的存储卡插槽。7英寸屏幕的分辨率为800×480，这是唯一明显低于目前标准的硬件，至少对于像我这样拥有一个iPad4和谷歌Nexus 7的人来说确实如此。然而，截图的质量还是非常不错的，图片跟截图有着相同的分辨率，并在本地保存为.png文件。（这特么有啥可称赞的
，天朝的不都这样啊= =！）
The camera above the screen has a resolution of 2 megapixels. Unlike the latest Samjiyon model mentioned above, there is no camera at the back of this model. The tablet has a microphone and a gyro sensor. The brand name Samjiyon is seen on the back side, as is the name of the manufacturer: Korea Computer Center.
屏幕上方的摄像头拥有2百万像素的分辨率。不像上文提到的最新版本的三池渊，在这个版本的背面有没有摄像头。这板子有麦克风和陀螺仪。背面可以看到三池渊品牌的标志，这是制造商的名称：朝鲜电脑中心。
The tablet has an extendable antenna for receiving analog TV signals. It is not entirely true that this tablet can only receive politically correct domestic TV. It is able to scan for channels; I tried it in China and in Europe, and it is able to tune into stations there as well. This is a bit of a surprise as one would have expected a consequent application of the policy of making TVs or radios tunable to only state broadcasting stations. Either this is one of the North Korean policy inconsistencies of which I have encountered quite a few in the last years, or our information needs to be updated.
这个平板里面有一根勇于接受模拟电视信号的天线。说这个板子只能接收到正确政治导向的节目是不完全正确的。它能够扫描频道，我在中国和欧洲试了一下，这完应也能收到这些地方的电视节目。令人有点小惊讶的是在朝鲜这样一个播放唯一的国家广播电台、电视信号政策的国家，这是一个理所当然的应用。也许这是其中一个与我在过去几年了解的朝鲜所矛盾的政策，再有可能说明我们关于朝鲜的的信息需要更新了。（这段太特么乱了.........）
Regarding connectivity, there seems to be no option to connect to the internet, although it is not clear to me whether this is a matter of software or hardware. However, there are a number of other options, such as micro USB, a memory card slot, HDMI, a headphones connector and a connection to an external TV antenna. The tablet comes with a charger, white headphones that look very much like the standard apple phones (except for the logo) and a micro-USB-to-USB adapter. There is no SIM-card slot. The battery promises to last for 10 hours in audio mode and 5 hours in computer mode, which seems to be fairly accurate. Measuring 196x123x12 mm and with a weight of 250 grams, it is comparable to 7-inch tablets such as the Nexus 7. The operating system is a customized version of Android 4.0.4. “Ice Cream Sandwich”; judging from the menu options, it seems to have been made for phones rather than tablets. When connecting the Samjiyon to my computer, it is identified as an “MT65xx Android Phone.”
关于网络，这机器没有链接互联网的选项，虽然我不清楚这是否是软件还是硬件的问题。但是，这机器里面也有不少其他的选项。例如，微型USB ，存储卡插槽， HDMI接口，一个耳机接口和一个接收电视信号的的天线。该平板电脑配备了一个充电器，一幅看起来非常像标准苹果手机（除了商标）所配备的白色耳机和一个微型USB到USB适配器。没有SIM卡插槽。电池有望能支持10小时音频模式和5小时的电脑模式，这看上去是相当准确的。尺寸：196x123x12毫米，重250克，跟7英寸的板子，比如nexus 7差不多 。操作系统是一个定制版本的Android 4.0.4 --- “冰淇淋三明治” ，从菜单中选择来看，这系统似乎是给手机而不是平板做的。当我把它连接到电脑上时，它被识别为“ MT65xx Android手机。 ”
Allegedly, the tablet can connect to the DPRK’s internet. I have not found the technical way to do so; there is no related option in the settings menu, and I could not find a LAN connector. As a foreign visitor, I would typically not haveaccessto North Korea’s internet anyway. There is a browser icon “webŭ yŏllam” (web opening) among the apps. On my tablet, which had briefly been in use by the saleswomen at the shop where I bought it, five websites have been bookmarked: Naenara, Rodong Sinmun, Chosŏnchung’angt’ongsin (KCNA), Manbang and Namsan. I do not know the latter two; Namsan seems to be technology related as far as I can guess from the low-resolution thumbnail. In any case, some kind of web access must be possible. As most data files (about 7 GB) are installed on the external memory card, while only a fraction of the internal memory is used, I suppose the connection to the internet for downloading applications could perhaps be established with another computer and data are then transferred onto the card or via a USB cable.
据称，该平板电脑可以连接到朝鲜的互联网 。我还没发现能这么做的方法，在设置菜单中没有相关的选项，而且我也找不到LAN接口。作为一名外国游客，我通常不能访问朝鲜的互联网。应用程序中有个的浏览器图标 。我这台曾短暂被该商店的售货员用过的平板电脑中被保存了五个网站书签 ： Naenara ，劳动新闻，朝鲜中央 ， Manbang and Namsan（真心不知道这么特么是啥玩应...）。我不知道后两个是啥网站。根据低分辨率缩略图我猜测Namsan似乎是与技术相关的。不管怎样，某些网络访问必须是可行的。由于大多数数据文件（大约7 GB ）安装在外置存储卡上，而内部储存存只被用了一小部分，我猜测连接网络下载应用可能是基于本机与另外一台电脑相连，之后数据通过USB适配器传输到SD卡上。
However it works, this limited connectivity has its advantages. The tablet has obviously been made for people who mainly use it offline. The number and quality of the pre-installed applications (apps) is remarkable and reflects the peculiarity of the market for this product. In reports by tourists and journalists, the existence of this tablet has been reported widely, including detailed discussions of the hardware. You can even watch on Youtube how the Samjiyon is opened. A detailed review of the hardware and the origin of the tablet - as it seems, Hong Kong based Shenzhen Yecon Industry Co., Ltd.—can be found here.
然而这确实很有效，连接被限制有它的优势。这个平板显然是为那些主要离线使用它的人制造的。预装应用程序的数量和质量令人印象深刻，反映这个产品市场的特殊性。根据游客和记者报道，这款平板的存在已经被广泛报道，包括硬件的细节。您甚至可以在Youtube上观看到三池渊的开箱视频。通过硬件方面的分析------这板子的原产地，正如所看到的那样，一个香港公司旗下的益光电子公司。
However, I could not find any detailed review of the software except perhaps for its least interesting parts, the games. This is a shame, as the true value of the Samjiyon can be found right there. Just to give you an idea, my tablet contains a total of 488 ! pre-installed dictionaries, reference works and eBooks.
不过，我找不到任何关于软件的详细评价，除了，也许是这平板上最无聊地东西----游戏。这是一种耻辱，因为三池渊的真正价值就在于此。只给你一个概念吧，我的平板电脑共包含488部预装词典，参考书和电子书。
It is the purpose of this article to show how rich in resources this device is, and to hopefully inspire North Korea researchers to make use of this wealth of information. As a side effect, we can gain a better understanding of the programming capabilities of North Korean engineers including such features as voice recognition and text-to-speech. Assume that, as elsewhere in the world, technology cleared for civilian use is less sophisticated compared to what military or security agencies have at their disposal.
这篇文章的目的是展示这台设备中的资源是多么的丰富，并且充满希望地鼓励朝鲜的研究人员利用这些丰富的信息。另外，我们可以更好地了解朝鲜工程师的编程能力，比如语音识别和文本到语音这些方面。设想一下，朝鲜和世界的其他的地方一样，允许民用的技术远没有运用的或者安全部门使用的复杂。
Games and Other Tools
What a surprise: North Korean customers, as many of us, seem to be fond of playing. The fourteen pre-installed games include Korean chess (chosŏn changgi), billiards (tanggu), Fishing Joy (“fish-catching,” kogi chabi), Angry Birds (“slingshot firing,” komuch’ong ssogi), picture puzzle (“image matching,” kŭrim matchugi), Basketball Shot (ronggukong nŏhgi), Tank Recon 3D (“tank war,” ttangk’ŭ chŏn), a brick game reminding me of Arkanoid (pyŏktolpusigi), Field Runners (pang’ŏ yuhŭi), Robo Defense (pang’ŏ chŏn), Air Control (“aircraft game”, pihaenggi yuhŭi), a marbles game (“ball rolling,” alkulligi), Racing Moto (ot’obai kyŏngju), and a slingshot game with pandas (ch’amdaekom ssogi). At least some of these games, most prominently Angry Birds, are known outside of Korea, too。
游戏和其他工具
多么令人惊讶啊！朝鲜的消费者，我们一样，看上去都喜欢玩游戏。十四预装的游戏包括朝鲜棋，台球，钓鱼乐，愤怒的小鸟，拼图，篮球运动员投篮，侦察坦克3D，打砖块，田径运动员，机器人防御，飞行控制，一个弹珠游戏，摩托赛车，一个带大熊猫的弹弓游戏。至少其中的一些游戏，尤其是愤怒的小鸟，是朝鲜以外的世界都知道的。
For many years North Korea, unnoticed by most Western users, has been producing games for mobile phones. Who in the West knows that SEK Studio in Pyongyang, also known as the April 26th Children’s Film Studio, has done significant work on mainstream cartoon movies like Pocahontas or Lion King? Some of the apps on the Samjiyon thus might even have been made in the DPRK. All of them have at least been language customized. It is needless to say that the user is not harassed by advertisements or in-game shopping.
多年以来，被大多数西方的用户忽视的朝鲜，已能够制作手机游戏。西方人谁知道在平壤有个瑞典克朗工作室-----也被称为朝鲜4.26儿童美术电影制片厂，曾先后做过像风中奇缘和狮子王这类主流卡通电影？因此三池渊中的一些应用有可能是在朝鲜被制作出来的。至少所有的应用都经过语言定制。但不必说说用户可能被广告或者游戏内的购物所骚扰。（查了一下，朝鲜4.26儿童美术电影制片厂确实挺出名的。我们熟知的《狮子王》、《匹诺曹》、《泰塔尼克号》、《一千零一夜》、《庞贝城的一天》、《角斗士》等著名动画片都有SEK公司参与制作。当然是与各国动画公司合作的，不过这也真心够牛逼了..）
Aside from the games, a number of useful tools have been installed. They include a fully functional MS Office package consisting of Word, Excel and Powerpoint (saving files as .doc, .xls and .ppt); a calculator; a camera; a web browser; a clock; a file manager; a music player; a PDF reader; a sound recorder; a video player; a notepad; a phonebook; and a photo gallery. It should also be noted that all apps run very smoothly. A PDF file with a user’s manual (sayong sŏlmyŏng) is saved in the root directory of the tablet.
All the above is quite impressive for a country that many believe is still living in Stone Age, but not really extraordinary for an Android tablet in 2013, except perhaps the MS Office pack. The real treasures are the country specific apps.
除了游戏，板子当中也安装了许多有用的工具。包括由Word，Excel和PowerPoint（将文件保存为DOC，XLS和PPT格式）组成的全功能的MSOffice软件包，计算器，照相机，网页浏览器，时钟，文件管理器，音乐播放器;PDF阅读器，录音机，视频播放器，记事本，电话簿，以及图库（这尼玛基本都是安卓原生应用好不......）。还应当注意的是所有的应用程序运行得非常顺利。 一个PDF格式的用户手册保存在平板电脑的根目录下。
所有上述内容在一个被（外界）认为依旧处于石器时代的国家而言是令人印象深刻的，但对一个2013年的平板来说并不是非凡的，也许，除了微软的Office套件吧。真正的宝藏是这个国家特有的应用程序。
Multi-language Dictionary
The multi-language dictionary (tagukŏ sajŏn) includes Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, and Russian. It is a version of the Samhŭng software that has been around for quite some time; I bought one version on a CD in 2010 at the P’yŏngyang International Trade Fair. Unlike thePCversion, the tablet edition of Samhŭng runs smoothly and without errors or freezes. Samhŭng data (including the Korean dictionary, see below) occupy about 1.28 GB on the internal storage.
多国语言词典
多语言字典包括汉语，英语，法语，德语，日语和俄语。这是存在了很久的Samhŭng（我怎么觉得这个好像是"三星"呢，汉语名实在没找到，反正就是这个名称的软件）软件的一个版本，我在2010年的平壤国际贸易博览会上买了一个版本的光盘。不同于PC版本，三池渊平板电脑上的版本运行流畅，并且没有差错和停滞。Samhŭng数据（包括朝鲜词典，见下文）约占用1.28GB的内部存储。
The dictionary is not “intelligent”; all words have to be searched separately instead of entering phrases or whole sentences. However, the dictionary has the great advantage of using North Korean language, which is useful if one looks for the translation of idiomatic espressions such as single-hearted unity (ilsim tangyŏl). For search mode, one can choose between “regular search” (ilban kŏmsaek) for main vocabulary or “text search” (ponmun kŏmsaek) for cases where the searched term appears in the examples provided. For the display of results the user can choose between comprehensive mode (chŏnch’e pogi) or detailed mode (sangse pogi), the latter offering a remarkably large number of sample sentences and phrases. The latter is particularly useful for those who are interested in the specifics of language use in the North. The searches are saved in a log file (riryŏk), which is a useful function for language learners who want to revisit the words they had to look up.
这本字典并不“聪明”，所有的单词都必须分开搜索，而不是输入词组或整个句子。然而，这本词典对使用北朝鲜的语言（的人），比如一个人要找习惯用语“齐心协力”的翻译来说是非常有优势的。对于搜索模式，人们可以对主要的词汇选择常规搜索，或者对那些提供示例的词汇选择文本搜索。对于结果的显示，用户可以综合模式或详细模式，后者提供令人印象深刻的大量的示例句子和短语。这对那些对北朝鲜语言的明确用法感兴趣的人来说极其有用。搜索历史保存在一个日志文件中，这对那些想要重温他们查过的单词的语言学习者来说是一个有用的功能。
An unexpected gimmick of the dictionary is speech input; rather than typing a word, it can also be spoken and, with some luck, will be recognized properly. I was more impressed by the presence rather than the functionality of this feature. Unlike Apple’s Siri, this function does not require an internet connection.
这个词点中一个意想不到的噱头是语音输入，而不是键入一个字，不过能够正确识别需要一定的运气。令我印象深刻的更多的是它的（语音输入）的存在而不是这个特点的实用性。不像苹果的Siri，这个功能并不需要互联网连接。
The quality of the dictionary is, I would argue, quite high. The number of entries is large; note the dominance of English compared to Russian or Chinese:
这部字典的质量，我认为，相当高。收录量非常大，注意俄文和中文相比，它的（朝鲜语）优势。
Like in most other countries, a dictionary of the local language (chosŏnmal sajŏn) has been published in the DPRK. It is the equivalent of the Oxford English Dictionary or the German Duden. The version on the Samjiyon has 120,000 entries. The structure of the software is similar to the multi-language dictionary. The explanations on the single entries seem to be slightly more detailed and provide more synonyms. For example, there are over 100 entries beginning with kyŏngje (economy, economic). In the case of Sino-Korean words, the respective Chinese characters are shown. The value of this dictionary is primarily in its detailed explanations of terms specific to North Korea, including the literary works contained in the liberal arts library (see section below).
跟大多数其他国家，一本当地语言的词典已经在朝鲜发行。这和牛津词典或杜登词典是等价的。三池渊中的版本中收录了120000个词条。软件的结构跟多语言词典类似。这部词典对单个项目的解释略为详细，并且提供更多的同义词。例如，有100多个以kyŏngje（经济，经济的）开始的词。就中朝字来说，均有相应的汉字显示。这本词典的价值主要是在特定的朝鲜语的详细解释，包括文科图书馆中文学作品（见下图）。
Encyclopedia
The tablet version of the Korean Encyclopedia (chosŏn taebaekkwa sajŏn) is based on the 30 volumes produced between 1995 and 2001. Related data occupy about 2.4 GB on the external storage.
The introduction informs us that the focus is on “the immortal achievements of leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il and the revolutionary leadership of the Korean Worker’s Party,” but there is much more information among the 83,000 entries on politics, economy, science and culture, history, biology and geography of Korea and “a few foreign countries.” There are, for example, entries on Humboldt, Hegel, and Yuri Gagarin, all complete with images. A large number of entries cover Marx, Marxism, and its relationship to chuch’e.
百科全书
朝鲜百科全书的平板版本是基于30卷1995年和2001年间出版的（百科全书）。相关数据约占用2.4GB外部存储。序言告诉我们，该书的重点是“领袖金日成和金正日以及朝鲜劳动党领导革命的不朽成就，”但是在所收录的83000个项目中，更多的是政治、经济、科学与文化、历史、生物和朝鲜的地理以及“其他国家”。例如，有洪堡大学（这学校出了个爱因斯坦，出了个黑格尔，出了个叔本华，出了个普朗克，海涅，俾斯麦，亥姆霍兹.............百度上还说马克思和恩格斯也曾在这求学= = 尼玛这学校是要统治20世纪的节奏啊）、黑格尔和尤里·加加林，所有的内容均配图。许多条目涵盖马克思主义，马克思主义，及其与chuch'e（这是啥玩应谁知道？）的关系。
Some articles include photos, paintings, and maps which can be enlarged. In the case of songs, the lyrics and notes are provided, and the melody can be played. If you type in “Kwangmyŏngsŏng,” there is a short video of the launch of the first North Korean satellite in 1998.
Search options in the encyclopedia are quite sophisticated. The user can, for example, choose search terms that begin or end with a specific letter or syllable. Rather than typing (kŏnban imnyŏk), one can also write with one’s finger on the touch screen (son’gŭl imnyŏk) or use text-to-speech (ŭmsŏng imnyŏk).
一些文章内含照片，绘画以及可以放大的地图。在介绍歌曲的时候，能够提供歌词和音符，并且有可以播放的炫律。如果你输入“光明星”，就会有一段朝鲜在1998年第一次发射本国卫星的简短视频。
百科全书的搜索选项是相当复杂的。例如用户可以搜索以一个特定的字母或音节开头或者结尾的字、词而不是把它完全打出来，你也可以用手指写在触摸屏上书写或者使用文本到语音（TTS）。
In the age of the internet, encyclopedias have quickly become outmoded. For North Koreans, however, they remain a major source of information. A detailed analysis of the Korean encyclopedia will certainly yield interesting, sometimes even surprising results on the amount of available knowledge cleared by the state authorities. In addition to North Koreans, researchers on North Korea are a second group that would stand to benefit significantly from such a reference work. For example, I have used the encyclopedia to extract the data for the tables on “immortal history” and “immortal leadership” below. Google or Wikipedia would have reached their limits quickly here.
在互联网时代，百科全书已迅速过时。对于朝鲜，但是，它们仍然是信息的主要来源。对朝鲜百科全书的详细分析肯定会对（朝鲜）国家权力机关所能提供的知识总量产生有趣的，有时候甚至是令人惊讶的结论。除了朝鲜人之外，研究朝鲜的人员是第二类将会从从这样一个有参考价值的工作中显著受益的人群。举例来说，我已经使用百科全书提取了关于“不朽的历史”和下面的“不朽的领导”的表中的数据。谷歌或维基百科很快就会极尽可能的收录这些。
Liberal Arts Library
A liberal arts library (munye tosŏ) is published under the brand name ŭnhasu (Milky Way), a name known to many from the recently inactive Ŭnhasu Orchestra but obviously unrelated. It contains 141eBooks in six categories: “immortal history” (pulmyŏrŭi ryŏksa, 18 volumes), “immortal leadership” (pulmyŏrŭi hyangdo, 9 volumes), “on the path of loyalty” (ch’ungsŏngŭi hankiresŏ, 3 volumes), Korean literature (chosŏn munhak, 54 volumes), “children’s literature” (adong munhak, 29 volumes), and “foreign literature” (woeguk munhak, 28 volumes). These are not audio books, but there is a function to have the texts read aloud by a female computer voice. The result is not perfect but is acceptable. The passage is underlined in red as it is read. Data occupy about 149 MB on the external storage.
文理图书馆（自由艺术图书馆？？不确定这个叫啥，没找到= =）
文科图书馆这几个字被印在商标“银河系”的下面，一个最近被人们所周知的“银河水管弦乐团”但显然这两者没啥关系。
(
就这个，充分证明金正恩也是喜欢看大腿的
)
它包含六大类141部电子书：《不朽的历史》，《不朽的领导力》，《忠诚之路》，《朝鲜文学》，《儿童文学》和《外国文学》。这些都不是有声读物，但有一个以女性电脑语音朗读文本的功能。效果不太好，但是仍可接受。被朗读的文章下面会被标注红线。数据占用约149 MB的外部存储。
As every North Korean knows, the first three categories correspond with subjects taught at school in North Korea up until graduation from middle school or high school. This is not necessarily new information, but who would be able to explain in detail what exactly that entails?
“Immortal history” refers to the standardized canon of literature on Kim Il-sung. His exploits are taught at school in courses on “The Great Leader Generalissimo Kim Il-sung’s revolutionary activities” and “...revolutionary history.” There are 18 books in this section, each classified as a “full-length novel” (changp’yŏn sosŏl). They can also be found on the web, for example on the DPRK website uriminzokkiri.com.
如朝鲜人所知晓的，前三类科目对应着朝鲜至初中毕业或者高中毕业为止学校所教授的课程。这未必是最新的信息，但是谁又能详细的解释什么是确切需要的呢？
《不朽的历史》是指描述金日成的标准化经典文学。学校的课程中教授他的功绩--伟大的领袖金日成元帅的革命运动以及革命历史。在这一部分中有18本书，每本都被归类为“长篇小说”。它们也可以在网上找到，例如在朝鲜网站uriminzokkiri.com。
（刚才好奇去看了下这个网站，没想到网站上的视频竟然都是优酷的。给大家粘贴一段，不管你笑没笑，反正我是笑了）
If anyone manages to read through these books as often as North Koreans do, it would be much easier to understand a number of references and associations in North Korean propaganda that usually remain hidden to the Westerner. Take, for example, the official term chosen for the famine of 1995-1997. The Arduous March (konanŭi haeng’gun) is the title of the 10th volume in the above collection and a reference to an episode of the anti-Japanese struggle under Kim Il-sung in 1938/1939. This simple term thus includes numerous links to military struggle, the fight against invaders, hardships that need to be overcome on the road to independence and so forth, including a chance for the current generation to show that it can also stand the tests of time like the guerillas before liberation.
如果有人跟朝鲜人一样经常读这些书，那将更容易理解很多北朝鲜的很多宣传通常都是针对西方人有所隐瞒的。举个例子来说，1995-1997年饥荒的官方选择的用语。艰苦长征是上述集合中的第10卷的标题，并且是金日成领导的在1938、1939年抗日斗争期间的参考。因此，这个简单的术语包括众多的链接，军事斗争、反对侵略斗争、在独立道路中需要克服的困难等等，包括当前这一代也可以像解放前游击队一样经得起时间考验的可能性。
The term “Immortal leadership” refers to Kim Jong-il. It is taught at school in courses on “The Great Leader General Kim Jong-il’s revolutionary activities” and “...revolutionary history.” There are nine books in this section.
It will be instructive for DPRK specialists to read, for example, in Pyongyang announces, about the official response of North Korea to Soviet Perestroika (kaep’yŏn). The slogan “serving the people” (inminŭl wihayŏ pongmuham), which is still seen frequently in North Korean production facilities, originates from this book and reflects Kim Jong-il’s emphasis on every day needs of the people as a protection against reform demands. Those interested in the nuclear issue will benefit from reading The world of the star to understand how North Korea regards the conclusion of the 1994 US-North Korea Agreed Framework as a victory.
The trinity of revolutionary works includes the collection On the path of loyalty. It refers to the exploits of Kim Jong-suk, wife of Kim Il-sung and mother of Kim Jong-il who died in 1949 at the age of 32. North Korean students are taught about her as an example of total devotion and a female role model in courses on “Anti-Japanese Heroine Mother Kim Jong-suk’s revolutionary history.” There are three books in this section: Standard-bearer in the guerilla zone (Yugyŏkkuŭi kisu), On the way to the Headquarters (Saryŏngburo kanŭn kil), and Azalea (Chintallae). Strangely, unlike the 27 volumes mentioned above, these books are not part of the North Korean encyclopedia (see below).
The section on “Korean Literature” (chosŏn munhak) contains a remarkable number of 54 volumes including classics like The Story of Ch’unhyang (ch’unhyangchŏn) and Earth (ttang) by Ri Ki-yŏng, and historical novels like the three volumes of The Kabo Peasant War (kabo nongmin chŏnjaeng).
The section on children’s literature consists of 29 volumes with titles such as The wish train (hŭimangŭi ryŏlch’a) and The first grader (ilhangnyŏnsaeng), and also includes militant works such as The fighters (chŏnsatŭl).
The section on foreign literature contains 28 volumes. A little more detail seems to be justified in listing these works here as they provide an insight into which works of non-Korean literature North Koreans have access to. I must admit that literature goes slightly beyond my competence; thus, I have only listed the works and their authors without much interpretation. Some volumes have an introduction, while others do not. In a few of the latter cases, I was unable to identify the actual title of the works and therefore can only provide the Korean title plus translation.
List of Works in the “Foreign Books” Section
For most of these works, it seems easy or at least possible to understand why they have been included here. They depict either the miserable life under feudalism and capitalism (Balzac, Dickens, and Hugo), the patriotic fight to repel foreign invaders (Ivanhoe) or the revolutionary struggle against reactionary forces.
In some cases, the reasons for the inclusion in this canon will not be as obvious. Take, for example, Gone with the Wind. Fortunately, there is an introduction to this work. The reader is informed that the exploitation of black slaves was the economic foundation of the colonies founded by the British. The American Civil War, a struggle between the bourgeoisie of the north and the landowners of the south, was an important period in the formation of American capitalism. Gone with the Wind is thus particularly useful for understanding how modern capitalism spread to all of the United States.
Some works have received direct praise from the leaders. In the introduction to Vanity Fair, Kim Jong-il is quoted saying that this work, along with Dickens’ Dombey and Son, is a prime example of British realist literature.
Modern Chinese Language
Reflecting the growing interest in learning its neighbor’s language, mostly driven by the desire to engage in profitable business, the Samjiyon offers a course on modern Chinese. As my Sinology colleagues assured me, the texts are read by actual native speakers (a male and a female). This is confirmed by a help text stating that the texts have been spoken “100% by Chinese people in correct Beijing dialect.” There are three volumes, with a total of 32 lessons (8+12+12). The course is interactive and contains multimedia elements. Each lesson comes with a vocabulary list, a text, additional information, and grammatical explanations. By any account, this is a very modern tool for learning a foreign language.
Textbooks
This section consists of a total of 141 books. They include 103 regular text books from 1st to 10th grade (4 grades for elementary and 6 grades for middle school). There are 22 additional books for the elite “No. 1 Middle Schools” (che 1 chunghakkyo) and 16 reference books. All works are full versions with elaborate illustrations. No wonder data for the textbooks section occupy about 3.27 GB on the external (memory card) storage.
The following table lists the textbooks available on my Samjiyon (“E” stands for elementary and “M” for middle school).
In each province, there are so-called “No. 1 Middle Schools.” These schools gather the best students from all over the province; those from more remote areas live on campus in a dormitory. I visited the Kim Jong-suk No. 1 Middle School in P’yŏngsŏng (capital of South P’yŏngan province) in September 2013. As far as one can tell from a one-time visit, the impression was clearly that of an elite education facility. The school grounds were large and well maintained, the teachers seemed to be highly motivated, and the students were bright and active. The textbooks below reflect the fact that students in these schools proceed faster in selected areas. I should add, however, that according to one North Korean contact the separate curricula of No. 1 schools and regular schools have been abolished, perhaps in connection with the education reform bill passed in September 2012. This is anecdotal information that I have not yet been able to verify.
Math... ...and biology
The fourth section consists of 16 workbooks and reference works (ch’amgosŏ). Those on my Samjiyon included a grammar workbook; biology reference book; chemistry reference book; mathematics reference book for No. 1 Middle Schools; The honor student’s friend (ch’oeudŭngsaengŭi pŏt’, a Mathematics workbook); mathematics handbook; handbook of geography; reference work on geography; two volumes of The broadly educated man’s friend (paksikkaŭi pŏt’, judging by the contents perhaps meant to support the classes of socialist ethics and law); reference work on history; workbook for preparation for the International Physics Olympics; and a total of three workbooks on Physics for No. 1 Middle School grades 2, 3, and 6.
Last but not least, there is Life and humor (saenghwalgwa yumoa). This book must be part of English classes as it is full of jokes and proverbs, some from Shakespeare, in English with Korean translation. It starts with a quote by Kim Jong-il saying that “A person not knowing any foreign language cannot be called a university graduate.” The book seems to have been updated just recently, as the introduction also includes a reference to the leadership of Kim Jong-un in connection with the “education struggle” (haksŭp chŏnt’u) necessary for achieving a socialist strong and prosperous country. Armed with such lofty thoughts, the reader can move on to the first joke on the next page: “Pupils were asked to write about the harmful effect of oil and fish. One 11-year old boy wrote: ‘When my mum opened a tin of sardines last night it was full of oil and the sardines were dead.’”
Connect with public service facility
I have so far seen two original record cards of North Korean high and middle school students. Based on these, it seems that despite the enormous number of books included on my tablet, some of the textbooks are missing. This concerns most of the English books, some works on Kim Il-sung, all chemistry books, and all of the books on Kim Jong-il. But help is near: press the button “Purchase new book” (saech’aek kuip). Unfortunately, the message suggesting to “Connect with public service facility” (pongsa kigwan) is not particularly relevant to me living in Vienna.
IT Dictionary
This dictionary contains 25,000 specialized terms in three different languages (Korean, English, and Chinese). I am not in a positiion to comment on the quality, but the dictionary is full of cryptic acronyms like “XSL-FO2.” I entered a few randomly chosen terms and could neither find “WLAN” nor “Android.” Apple and Yahoo are there, but not Google. “WYSIWYG” (what you see is what you get) was only available if entered in the English section. There is even an entry on “Anna Kournikova”—the computer virus, not the tennis player.
Search terms can be entered in Korean, English or Chinese IT dictionary
Materials for the study of the chuch’e ideology
Well, in the end, this is a North Korean tablet. The canon of the leaders’ works occupies 159 volumes (129 MB) on my tablet. It is perhaps not on top of the list of every Western user’s priorities, but it is an indispensable resource for researchers with a solid interest in North Korea, its ideology, and its various policies and their origin. Many of these works can be found in libraries or online. Nevertheless, the collection on the Samjiyon is very useful: it is complete, it is searchable, and it integrates the dictionaries on the tablet, which makes the translation of specific terms fast and user friendly. All youneed to do is put your finger on any term, wait for a second or two, and a context menu appears, offering a choice of six dictionaries to search in.
Materials for the study of the chuch’e idea
Collected Works of Kim Il-sung
When clicking on any word, a drop-down menu with the avaliable dictionaries appears
The translation from the chosen dictionary appears right in the opened text document
The Collected Works of Kim Il-sung (chŏjakchip) has 50 volumes. Numbers 1-44 present a collection starting in 1930 until his last work “On achieving a decisive turn in the building of the socialist economy” dated July 6, 1994—two days before his death. Volumes 45-50 include the first 18 chapters of his autobiography With the century .
The autobiography of Kim Il-sung is also available separately in eight volumes on the tablet, this time including the missing two volumes with the remaining six chapters, ending with liberation in 1945.
The Complete Works of Kim Il-sung actually consist of 100 volumes. Of these, my tablet includes the first 85 volumes, covering the period from October 1926 with a speech at the “Down with Imperialism Union,” until July 1987 with a speech to Japanese visitors. It is not clear why the last 15 volumes are missing.
The Selected Works of Kim Jong-il include 15 volumes, starting with a speech to employees of the Central Committee of the Youth Organization in April 1964 and ending with a speech on soybean farming in October 2004.
The book About the Chuch’e Idea by Kim Jong-il has actually been published in 1982. On my tablet, there is one volume with this title page but obviously different contents, as it includes speeches and works by Kim Jong-il from September 2006 until October 7, 2011.
What Is All This Good For?
Utility is obviously in the eye of the beholder. I find it unlikely that somebody without a certain interest in North Korea would ever purchase a Samjiyon. For non-Korean speakers, the main treasures of this tablet will remain hidden, except perhaps the dictionary.
For experts and those who want to join this illustrious group, the Samjiyon can easily develop into one of their major research tools. The DPRK-specific dictionaries and the encyclopedia are tremendously useful as reference works. It does not take much imagination to see all the future Ph.D. theses written about the North Korean educational system based just on the textbooks available on a single Samjiyon (don’t forget to give credit to the one who provided you with this idea). The selection of eBooks in the literature section is equally remarkable. A detailed analysis of the IT dictionary might disclose a focus on particular sectors or technologies. For those interested in the technical skills of North Korean programmers, the Samjiyon will offer a number of insights that are not overly spectacular but at least represent hard evidence in a world that is otherwise dominated by hearsay.
Some questions remain. As briefly noted above, there seem to be differences in the software and contents from tablet to tablet. It would thus be interesting to read a few more reviews and to find out which books are installed on all tablets and which ones are optional. An open question is the procedure for connecting to the intranet; I find the presumption by northkoreatech.org to be a good shot: “It’s hard-coded to work on a certain network and cannot be changed like conventional tablets.”
In any case, the North Korean Samjiyon SA-70 tablet is in many ways a remarkable device that has so far not received its due share of attention. I hope this review was able to change this and to inspire further research, although—or because—I have only barely scratched the surface.
Ruediger Frank is a Professor of East Asian Economy and Society at the University of Vienna and Head of the Department of East Asian Studies. He is a frequent contributor to 38 North. Find more of his analysis at
