Category Archive: Offbeat

While written in Korean, most of these games are very playable, some dripping with propaganda. These are from the state-run “Uriminzokkiri” news website. The pages do not load properly in Chrome, but you can dive into the HTML source to get the direct links to the games. I’ve done that for you below. They seem to load fine in Firefox.

Catching Thieves – This puzzle game involves pushing gems over holes in the ground where Japanese and American heads pop out of.

Map of Korea Meeting – How’s your Korean geography? The shape of a province is shown, you must select from a list of 5 possible names and then locate it on the map.

Catching the enemy – Fire arrows, throw maces, throw swords. Doesn’t really matter which you pick. Click on the invaders before they throw stuff at you.

Taekwondo national pride – Funny little Taek-won-do fighting game. Use the arrow keys to perform various kicks and punches, A and D on the keyboard to move back and forth.

Ryeolchagil (?) Fit – In North America, we know this title as “Pipe Dream”. lay down railroad tracks of random direction until you can “unify” the train with the tunnel on the other side. Score more points for a “clean” design. Gets harder and you’re on a time limit. Fun!

“Spot the difference” (1) (2) (3) – You’re on a time limit and only get a few tries. Can you spot the differences in the side-by-side editorial cartoons?

Source: Uriminzokkiri (Korean)

As North Korea slowly enters the new century, they have now begun their own state-run Twitter page. This following the recent launch of the official Youtube page. While obviously written in Korean, you can often get the gist of the propaganda messages using a browser with auto-translate extensions like Chrome or Firefox. As of this writing, the page has received 300+ followers, while following none.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Obviously meant for the outside world, North Korea has recently launched their official Youtube channel. The videos are mostly in Korean. The channel takes its name from the state-run online newspaper, Uriminzokkiri. The newspaper has not been offered in English since December of 2007. Urimizokkiri appears to mean “By our nation itself”, a fitting summary of their Juche ideology.

Another interesting Youtube channel belongs to “rodrigorojo1“. He has many videos hosted of Korean Central Television (KCTV) footage, and updates daily. This gives you a better experience for what North Korean citizens get to watch on television.