Category Archive: Propaganda

Aug 19

South Korea pushes back psychological warfare… again

Our friends at the DailyNK report that the South has once again pushed back its plans to deploy loudspeakers along the DMZ. This measure was announced in response to the sinking of the Cheonan in March, and was supposed to resume in May. The date was pushed back to mid June, in hopes that the UN would rally against the North after the final report on the Cheonan was made available. Interest seemed to fade in July, and now it seems the loudspeakers will only begin broadcasting if the North creates more provocations. And even this will probably not resume until after the G20 summit in Seoul this November.

Source: DailyNK

Permanent link to this article: http://www.openingupnorthkorea.com/archives/270

Aug 18

Are South Koreans in danger of punishment for following NK on Twitter?

South Korea’s National Security Law technically forbids corresponding or communicating with citizens from the North without prior consent from the Unification Ministry. Therefore, are hundreds of South Koreans in violation of law for following the newly created @uriminzok state-run Twitter account from the North? Technically, fines of up to $2500 USD can be assigned for violations, but it is doubtful anyone is in any danger of being fined. The Twitter account has exploded in popularity, reaching over 7500 followers from around the world in just a few days.

Source: The Korean Times

Permanent link to this article: http://www.openingupnorthkorea.com/archives/260

Aug 16

Official North Korean flash games

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)

Permanent link to this article: http://www.openingupnorthkorea.com/archives/250

Aug 15

More propaganda for the outside world: @uriminzok on Twitter

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

Permanent link to this article: http://www.openingupnorthkorea.com/archives/237

Aug 10

North Korea’s Official Youtube

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.

Permanent link to this article: http://www.openingupnorthkorea.com/archives/226

Aug 03

Sea of fire, nuclear destruction, retaliatory sacred war, etc, etc…

I don’t know if it’s even worth posting these, as the North threatens “all out war” on a seemingly daily basis since being directly accused for the sinking of the Cheonan this past March. The latest threats are in response to South Korean anti-submarine drills near the maritime border between the warring nations.

Source: Yonhap News

Permanent link to this article: http://www.openingupnorthkorea.com/archives/189

Aug 03

The People’s Rooney’s tears explained

jongtaese_tearsMany were confused by DPRK football team’s powerhouse patriotic tears during the North’s national anthem at this year’s world cup. After all, this footballer is Japanese born and has never even been to the North, so what’s the story here? Reporter Mark Willacy has a fascinating piece about the Chongryon, or “General Association of Korean Residents in Japan”, which is a school/embassy type of organization for North Koreans (or of that descent) living in Japan. Before WWII, Japan had annexed the Korean peninsula and brought many Koreans to do slave labour in Japan. These Zainichi are the people and descendents of those displaced people. The article explains the “brain-washing” applied to these Koreans living in Japan, and that the tears of Jong Tae Se were genuine pride for his people and fatherland.

Source: ABC News (Australia)

Permanent link to this article: http://www.openingupnorthkorea.com/archives/188

Aug 02

NK studio produced Disney classics

While hardly news, I felt the need to share this fascinating tidbit. SEK Studio, a DPRK animation studio has had animation subcontract work on classics cartoon movies such as the Lion King and Pocahontas. The communist nation is also famous for airing US made cartoon “Tom & Jerry”, as they use Tom as an analogy for the brash USA while Jerry represents a clever underdog North Korea. 

Source: North Korean Economy Watch

Permanent link to this article: http://www.openingupnorthkorea.com/archives/184

Jul 30

Burmese biography of Kim Jong-Il “recalled”

Hundreds of copies of a Burmese published biography of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il were seized after NK embassy officials complained of falsehoods and inaccuracies in the book. Tensions were high and diplomatic relations ended in the 80s when North Korean’s attempted to assassinate the South Korean president at a ceremony which killed Burmese officials and many others. In 2007, relations increased as the two nations bonded over oppressive action from the US. The confiscation is believed to be to ease tensions from rising once more between the allies.

Source: Yahoo! News

Permanent link to this article: http://www.openingupnorthkorea.com/archives/143

Jul 28

A portrait of the Youth Captain for every home

More Jong-Un news from Open Radio: 10 million portraits are being prepared of Kim Jong Un, the 27 year old heir apparent to the North Korea throne. With these distributed, we’ll have one more picture of the new leader to add to the gallery of two.

Source: Open Radio for North Korea

Permanent link to this article: http://www.openingupnorthkorea.com/archives/98

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