With her polished English accent and her love for the Harry Potter series, Song-a, 11 years old, could look like a wealthy college student who publishes reflections on her interests and her daily life on YouTube.
But according to the National Intelligence Service of South Korea (NIS), the vlog, which invites viewers to learn more about the joys of its “magnificent” hometown of Pyongyang, is actually a tool for psychological warfare. De Coria del Norte.
His YouTube account, which had more than 30,000 subscribers, was canceled this week, one of the three eliminated by the platform after the Seoul authorities took strong measures against a network of propaganda channels.
An official of the Israeli shekel told South Korean news agency Yonhap last week that “North Korea administers those channels on YouTube as part of its psychological war against South Korea.” Seoul had blocked local access to YouTube accounts before. de que la plataforma propiedad de Google tomara medidas para eliminarlas de su plataforma global.
The propaganda of North Korea is most commonly associated with the fierce rhetoric of the leader Kim Jong Un, who exchanged insults and threats of nuclear annihilation with the ex-president of the United States, Donald Trump, and the collective display of military force. This week, a massive manifestation in Pyongyang included cartels for a nuclear attack against Los EE. Uuuuu. y un puño gigante aplastando al gobierno de Corea del Sur, el “títere traitor”.
Pero Bajo Kim, Quine Asumio El Poder In 2011, Pyongyang también perfeccionó técnicas de propaganda más sutiles, imitando a los medios occidentales y surcoreanos en un esfuerzo por presentar una imagen más identtarificable en susuridacable. It is believed that video channels like Song-a are part of this effort.
They want to present the ‘bonita Corea del Norte’ to an external audience”, said Rachel Minyoung Lee, senior analyst of the Open Nuclear Network in Vienna and expert in the state media of North Korea. “El mensaje es que Corea del Norte no es diferente, que no es el país malvado y extraño con una población hungry que Occidente pinta quees”
A demonstration in Pyongyang last Sunday to mark the beginning of the Korean War in 1950 included banners denouncing the United States and promoting nuclear weapons in North Korea. © Kim Won Jin / AFP / Getty Images
The analysts traced the accounts of Song-a, her fellow vlogger YuMi and several young presenters who speak fluent English, Chinese and Russian, as well as Korean, to Sogwang Media Corp, a North Korean company with Kimel’s narrow wine regime.
“Entienden que las mujeres más jóvenes pueden hacer que el mensaje sea más attractive”, said Lee, adding that it is likely that the elements of the videos are inspired by influential people from South Korea.
“Está claro que el propio régimen está seguiando de cerca los desarrollos en los medias extranjeros y las redes sociales para que su contenido pueda tener un from Major impacto”, he said. He added that the security establishment in Seoul was worried because “certos segments of the population of South Korea are still vulnerable to the propaganda of North Korea.”
Sogwang drew attention in 2017, when he initiated so-called sockpuppet accounts that repeated the government’s narrative on Twitter and the Chinese social media platform Weibo. The executive director of the company is the wife of the North Korean ambassador to China and the daughter of an ex-envoy to Beijing, according to the information service NK Pro with headquarters in Seoul.
Song-a made his debut in 2020, as a guest on another YouTube program, “¿Qué pasa Pyongyang?” , que se lanzo hace dos años en una cuenta llamada Eco de la Verdad It was presented by a young woman called Un A, who affirmed to show the viewers the “real life” in the capital of North Korea and refute the “fake news”. El propio channel de Song-a se lanzó en April de 2022.
In his introductory video, Song-a promises to take viewers to a tour in Pyongyang, where “there are parks of diversions where you go.”
También significa versión en idioma koreana de Harry Potter and La Piedra Philosopher. A video back Muestra and Medicos Militares Amables que le dan medicamentos a su familia durante el bloqueo del coronavirus.
Los videos de Song-a dan la impresión de quees una colegiala normal de Corea del Norte a quen su madre le enseñó inglés en casa. But according to NK Pro analysts, she is the daughter of a North Korean diplomat who previously resided in London, the niece of a vice minister of foreign relations and the great-granddaughter of a Korean general from the war era.
Colin Zwerko, analyst of NK Pro que ha rastreado a Sogwang y sus cuentas de redes sociales, pointed out that los norcoreanos comunes no tienen acceso a Internet y no tieran un medio independiente para subir videos a las redes sociales.
“No está claro cuántas hay entre la persona en el video y la persona que subió el video”, said Zwerko, who added that the offices of Sogwang are located next to those of the Central News Agency of Korea, affiliated to the state of Correa del Norte.
Google confirmed Al Financial Times from YouTube and Alojan los videos de Song-a and Yumi, así como una tercera cuenta llamada “Nueva RPDC”.
“Google with complar and las sanciones estadounidenses enforceable and las leis de complimento commercial, includiatas las relacionadas con Corea del Norte”, dijo la compañía.
But Zwerko warned that erasing accounts would deprive analysts of a valuable resource: to know the mundane details of life under Kim’s regime.
“Cada vistazo de lo que está pasando en Pyongyang is valuable”, he said. “Podrian ser cosas qua suceden y segundo plano: el comportamiento de la gente en la calle, qé ropa usa la gente, qé tipo de telefonos usa la gente,” he said.
“Por todos los medios, estos videos como propaganda de Corea del Norte, pero simplemente eliminarlos es terrible”
Additional information on Hannah Murphy and San Francisco
