A young woman reaches into a fridge full of granites, pulls out a few and shows them to the camera for her YouTube video.

“It tastes like milk – the picture is so cute,” she can be heard speaking in English as she shows off the cartoon packaging. “This one tastes like peach,” she continues with a smile. Finally, he chooses an ice cream cone, bites into it, and comments, “The cookies are delicious.”

The four-minute video has over 41,000 views on YouTube, but it’s no ordinary vlog because the woman who calls herself Yumi lives in North Korea, “perhaps the most isolated and secretive country in the world,” according to CNN. .

YuMi’s YouTube channel, created last June, is one of several social media accounts that have popped up in the past two years where North Koreans share their daily lives — or so they claim.

But analysts explain that perhaps all is not what it seems, and there are several signs that the lives of these North Koreans are far removed from the daily lives of the millions of impoverished people living in captivity under Kim Jong-un’s regime.

Yumi and other Pyongyang Internet figures are likely related to high-ranking officials and are likely involved in a propaganda campaign aimed at changing the country’s external image, presenting North Korea as a friendly state even to tourists.

Yumi’s videos look like a well-prepared production written by the North Korean government, said Pak Song-sol, researcher at the North Korean Human Rights Database.

Obvious signs

For decades, North Korea has remained isolated from the rest of the world, imposing severe restrictions on freedom of speech, free movement and access to information.

The systematic violation of human rights has been criticized by the United Nations. Internet use is strictly limited and even a few privileged smartphone owners do not have access to the world wide web, with the exception of the domestic internet, which is heavily censored by the government and controlled by content. Materials from abroad, such as books and films, are banned, and those caught smuggling from the black market face severe penalties.

That’s why Yumi, who has not only a camera but also access to YouTube, is not an ordinary North Korean, experts say.

Communication with the “outside world” is impossible for the average resident, said Ha Seung-hee, a researcher and professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul.

Yumi isn’t the only North Korean YouTuber of interest: The 11-year-old calling herself Song Ah debuted on YouTube in April 2022 and has already amassed over 20,000 subscribers.

“My favorite book is Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling,” Song Ah says in the video, holding up the first book in the series, which is especially impressive given that North Korea has strict rules against importing art. especially from Western countries.

In the video, Song Ah speaks with a British accent and sits in a cozy children’s bedroom. It has a bookcase, pink curtains, a globe, and a stuffed doll.

The luxury of a privileged social class

The “beautiful” representation of everyday life in Pyongyang testifies to the social class of their creators.

In her videos, Yumi visits an amusement park and an interactive movie show, fishes in a river, works out in a fully equipped indoor gym, and visits a cave where young students wave the North Korean flag in the background.

Song Ah goes to the water park, visits the science and technology exhibition center, and films the first day of school.

Pak notes that these videos are not 100% fake, but they are misleading and in no way represent the lives of most citizens.

North Korea’s wealthy elite, high-ranking government officials and their families have access to luxuries like air conditioning, scooters and coffee. And the objects shown in YouTube videos are not accessible to most people. According to Park, only members of a “special category” of people can enter.

It is equally possible that these facilities are not running regularly, as shown in the video. “For example, Power supply in North Korea is not stable enough to run an amusement parkI heard that they only open it on weekends or for some special occasion like when they’re filming a video,” Park added.

A new form of propaganda.

Propaganda is a constant practice in North Korea. Past campaigns have included Soviet-style posters, videos of military parades and missile tests, and even images of Kim Jong Un on a white horse.

But now the form of propaganda seems to be changing. YouTube videos and North Korean social media accounts on Chinese platforms such as Weibo and Bilibili are typical of the new strategy: North Koreans want foreign viewers to find common ground.

“North Korea is trying to emphasize that Pyongyang is an ‘ordinary city’,” Park says.

Why;

Ha believes North Korea may be trying to present itself as a safe country in order to discover tourism in the future that could boost its struggling economy. Although it has not yet opened its borders to tourists, “the pandemic will someday end and North Korea has focused on tourism for economic purposes.”

CNN source