A North Korean YouTuber with nearly 80,000 views of its own video content has appeared and is attracting attention. This North Korean YouTuber by the name of ‘YuMi’ introduces the appearance of North Korea through videos such as ‘Mukbang’ (eating broadcasts) and vlogs. Regarding this, foreign media and experts on North Korea interpreted it as “a video for regime propaganda.”
As of the 10th, the ‘Olivia Natasha · Yumi Space DPRK Daily’ channel has reached 11,000 subscribers and accumulated 456,000 video views.
In this channel, a North Korean woman named ‘Yumi’ introduces North Korea through her daily life.
In one video, Yumi goes into a store with a sign that says ‘drink shop’, looks in the refrigerator, picks up an ice cream, and says things like “(The packaging) the picture is so cute” and “It tastes like peaches.” Then, after she picked out an ice cream cone and tasted it, Yumi said, “There is fruit jelly inside. The sweets are very tasty,” she says.
However, Yumi’s vlog video is different from other vlog videos. It’s that the way you talk or act is awkward.
The video with the most views is the content of Yumi exercising at a fitness center in Pyongyang. The content recorded 77,000 views. In this video, Yumi introduces the facilities of her fitness center and reveals herself working out.
In addition, videos of Yumi going to an amusement park, fishing or drinking coffee, and listening to North Koreans’ opinions on the results of the Qatar World Cup are posted on the channel.
Not just Yumi. Last year, an 11-year-old girl named Song A-ra, who lives in Pyongyang, appeared on the YouTube channel ‘Sally Parks’ and drew attention as a ‘North Korean Kids YouTuber’.
In the video, Songa said that ‘Harry Potter’ was her favorite book, and was seen visiting Munsu Water Park in North Korea.
Foreign media and experts on North Korea evaluated such North Korean YouTube as ‘system propaganda videos’.
CNN pointed out that in North Korea, access to the Internet is restricted and access to foreign content such as books and movies is prohibited, so the use of YouTube itself is limited.
Park Seong-cheol, a researcher at the North Korean Human Rights Information Center, told CNN, “(This video) is like a well-prepared play by the North Korean regime.”
Ha Seung-hee, a professor at the North Korean Studies Institute at Dongguk University, also told CNN that “connecting with the outside world is impossible for (North Koreans) residents.”
