Soccer Fierce Battle

North Korea has two official mobile phone networks, but contacting the world beyond its borders by phone or through the global internet is technically impossible.

Instead, there is a growing internal market in mobile phone applications for news, information and entertainment, many resembling products available worldwide.

Among them is Soccer Fierce Battle, a 3D football simulation compatible with PCs and mobile devices operating the Android system.

The game closely resembles the best-selling FIFA video game series, Seoul's Korea Herald newspaper reported last August.

Another popular game is Hunting Yankee, a shoot-em-up in which American soldiers are the enemy, the South China Morning Post says.

North Korea makes its own tablet computers and mobile phones running a domestically-produced version of the Android operating system, and there are more than 3.5m users in the country, Japan's Nikkei reported last month.

According to the New York Times, Pyongyang reportedly imports mobile phones and electronics from Chinese companies, exploiting a loophole in sanctions on luxury goods that leaves exporting countries to define what exactly these goods might be.

Mobile phones have become an increasingly common sight around Pyongyang