Social media
AP’s Jean Lee on social media in North Korea
Mar 15th
Fresh from becoming the first person to tweet and Instragram on Koryolink’s new 3G data service, Associated Press Korea Bureau Chief Jean Lee was at the SXSW Interactive event to speak about social media in the DPRK.
She’s a great person to speak to on the subject.
Her pioneering posting as the first accredited correspondent of any western news organization in Pyongyang has seen her make numerous trips to the country. The opening up of the 3G network to tourists and then a few weeks later data service for foreigners — a story she broke — was widely followed.
As with just about More >
YouTube zaps another Uriminzokkiri video
Feb 21st
Another Uriminzokkiri video has been removed from YouTube for copyright infringement. This time it’s a propaganda video that borrowed its soundtrack from the video game “The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.”
The takedown, confirmed by a message when users attempt to access the clip, comes just two weeks after a previous propaganda video was removed after a copyright complaint by Activision. That video used a computer-generated animation clip from Activision’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.”
The latest removal comes after a copyright complaint from ZeniMax Media, a Maryland-based computer game publisher that puts out the game under its Bethesda Software division.
Uriminzokkiri regularly More >
Activision cuts short North Korea’s space dreams
Feb 6th
That didn’t last long. U.S. video game maker Activision has filed a copyright takedown demand with YouTube resulting in the removal of a video that sees a North Korean man dream of reunification, Korean domination of space and the collapse of the United States.
Uriminzokkiri is a semi-official North Korean web site based in China. It speaks for the North Korean government and carries much of the output of state media, but it also produces its own content. The video was one such original piece.
The clip, posted on the Uriminzokkiri YouTube channel and website over the weekend, attracted a lot of interest on More >
New! The North Korean YouTube List
Sep 30th
On the right of the home page you’ll find a link to a new resource on North Korea Tech: a listing YouTube channels associated with North Korea.
The first North Korea-related channel came online in 2006 and more have followed. In the last couple of years the posting of videos by Uriminzokkiri, the Pyongyang-linked site based in China, and the government-run KCNA news agency has increased the amount of official video online.
There a four major channels that have attracted the vast majority of views and then a handful of smaller ones.
I’ve also listed four additional channels that provide a more analytical More >
Kim Han-Sol’s Internet footprint
Oct 3rd
The teenager believed to be the 16 year-old grandson of Kim Jong Il has scrambling to delete or block access to his Internet social media accounts after news spread of his admission into a Bosnian school.
Attention was focused on the accounts — one on Facebook and two on Twitter — after South Korean media reported that Kim Han Sol had been accepted into the United World College in Mostar, Bosnia.
Pictures posted on the social media services, including the one to the right, were published by South Korean media organizations before access was restricted. The images and comments written by Kim Han More >
Uriminzokkiri’s Twitter account still down
Jan 22nd
Uriminzokkiri, the China-based website that carries North Korean news to the world, was the center of attention earlier this month when its Twitter and YouTube channels were hacked.
Four Twitter messages and a YouTube video denigrating Kim Jong Il and his son, Kim Jong Un, were posted on Jan. 8, which is reportedly the birthday of the younger Kim.
The YouTube channel was reinstated within a few days and is back to its usual diet state-TV clips and videos produced by the website, which appears to have close ties to Pyongyang.
However, two weeks on from the hacking and Uriminzokkiri appears to still not More >
Uriminzokkiri Twitter reportedly hacked
Jan 8th
The Twitter account of Uriminzokkiri, the China-based web site with close ties to Pyongyang, has apparently been compromised. (See the bottom of this post for updates.)
Four messages posted on Saturday morning are derogatory to leader Kim Jong-Il and Kim Jong-Un, his son and heir apparent.
Yonhap News translated one of the messages:
“Let’s create a new world by rooting out our people’s sworn enemy Kim Jong-il and his son Kim Jong-un!” — Yonhap News, Jan. 8, 2011
The messages are still visible at time of writing and are reproduced below.
The apparent hacking comes on Kim Jong-Un’s 28th birthday and will be an embarrassment More >
South seeks block on DPRK Internet propaganda
Dec 23rd
South Korea’s government is planning to further restrict its citizens from accessing, discussing or forwarding North Korean propaganda activity on social-networking services, such as Twitter.
The plans were outlined in the Justice Ministry’s plan for 2011, which was presented on Tuesday, although lacked specifics.
The South already blocks about 30 pro-North Korean websites although never had to worry about social media until Uriminzokkiri launched a Twitter feed earlier this year.
Here’s the full story at Network World.
The moves follows the sinking of the Cheonan and shelling of Yeonpyeong island and comes despite an already tightening grip on South Korean netizens.
According to a report More >
Pyongyang gets social
Sep 5th
Uriminzokkiri.com, the closest thing North Korea has to an official home page, got social in July when it joined Twitter and Facebook.
The move generated lots of publicity and helped drive Internet users to follow its tweets and status-updates, but also drew the attention of the governments in Seoul and Washington.
Uriminzokkiri’s moves into social media began a few weeks earlier with the launch of a YouTube channel, but that was largely unnoticed. A few news organizations picked up on the launch including AFP, which provided a sense of the channel’s content.
One English-language video with a duration of five minutes and 56 More >
