North Korea's propaganda efforts evolving on YouTube

A female anchor of North Korea's YouTube channel "Echo of Truth" enjoys fried chicken and beer in a video posted Aug. 1. / Captured from Echo of Truth

By Park Han-sol

Surrounded by high-rise buildings piercing the purple evening sky, a young woman enjoys fried chicken and beer at a romantic restaurant with a hint of vintage decor. The crisp sound of her biting into well-baked drumsticks reminds one of a "mukbang" (online eating show).

In another video, a bob-haired woman experiences a range of emotions from terror to sheer joy as she screams on rides just like any other amusement park vlogger. Her tearful screams during a free-fall at a drop tower, the rollercoaster ride shakily filmed from her point of view, and the cameraman's chuckle over her jokes about going home all convey the lively atmosphere in a place of never-ending fun.

The vlog then cuts to her standing in front of two austere red signs, a stark contrast to colorful rides and surrounding greeneries. She admiringly explains that "respected Marshal Kim Jong-un visited here with great leader Kim Jong-il and went on this ride five times."

Both videos filmed in Pyongyang are from North Korea's YouTube channel "Echo of Truth," which boasts more than 23,000 subscribers and has racked up 1.7 million views since its launch in August 2017. The channel takes viewers to a pizza restaurant, spa resort, college campus and metro station to show what "authentic" daily life is like in North Korea's capital city.

Another channel that has risen to popularity recently is "New DPRK," with over 13,000 subscribers. Among several hosts, seven-year-old Ri Su-jin certainly stands out with her charming demeanor. Ri's vlogs show what the North claims to be the everyday life of Pyongyang children as she prepares for the first day of school, cheerfully skips down the hallway to water her flowers and excitedly asks her grandmother for candy after practicing the piano.

Both channels present a world away from the ballistic missiles, military parades and perfectly choreographed mass games typically associated with the reclusive regime.

Ri Chun-hee, the best-known anchor for North Korea's state-run broadcaster Korean Central Television (KCTV) / Yonhap

Shift to human-interest stories and polished style

The classic format that used to prevail in North Korean propaganda can be defined by two elements: the ever-present achievements of the country's supreme leaders and the anchors' stiff, bombastic rhetoric.

Contents revolved around breathless expressions of gratitude for the Kim family's leadership while indoctrinating citizens with state ideology and the importance of collective loyalty to the workers' party. Anchors underscored this message with their meticulously planned and stilted speaking style.

Now, on YouTube, the propaganda has evolved into slice-of-life videos with stories focusing on everyday life of ordinary citizens rather than explicit ideology. Videos introduce the country's mundane concerns through citizens themselves in street interviews. Their far-less-controversial and apolitical topics such as horse-riding, fashion trends and grocery shopping highlight a softer and more human side of life in Pyongyang.

Un A, one of the female anchors of North Korea's YouTube channel "Echo of Truth," introduces Pyongyang metro station in a video posted June 26. / Captured from Echo of Truth

The videos' stylistic aspects have also taken a big step toward the contemporary. Clips are often narrated or subtitled in English, appealing to a broader audience. The filming and editing techniques have become very polished, with many of the recent videos containing flashy graphics, time-lapse videos and even the ambient sounds of people chattering and laughing in the background, which used to be completely drowned out by anchors' voiceovers or music.

These stylistic shifts have been duly recognized by avid viewers. In a video where Un A, the narrator for "Echo of Truth," tours a Pyongyang metro station, many users spoke about its sleek opening sequence and transitions with high-quality graphics. One comment read: "You really stepped up your production quality with this vid. Lots of progress since your earlier posts."

Granted, North Korea's YouTube channels have not entirely abandoned their mission, and hints of classic propagandist messages are still present. In one video, Un A visits Mangyongdae, which the regime claims to be the birthplace of its founder Kim Il-sung. In another clip, the supreme leader's achievements are yet again emphasized through a child's words as Ri Su-jin awkwardly states "our beloved leader Marshal Kim Jong-un built [the hospital] for us" after getting a medical checkup.

The North Korean lifestyle shown in these videos is unlikely to be completely authentic, or it may represent a very limited number of top-level Pyongyang citizens, as factual data and testimonies prove that the majority part of the country is neither affluent nor modernized. In several other YouTube clips, North Korean defectors in the South who watch "Echo of Truth" or "New DPRK" channels state that many of the settings in the videos are fake.

Nevertheless, it is clear that overall, these toned-down videos do not rely heavily on explicit propagation or ideological indoctrination.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in front of a framed picture of his grandfather Kim Il-sung and father Kim Jong-il / Yonhap

YouTube videos as extension of Kim Jong-un's political agenda

As YouTube videos point to a new way of North Korea's propaganda practices, some experts see them as an extension of Kim Jong-un's political agenda to build a polished, modern image of the nation within the globalized landscape of today.

"This is part of Kim Jong-un's political project to bring the refined style of the outside world, especially that of Western Europe where he studied, back to North Korea not only to emphasize himself as a sophisticated leader of a new generation, but also to demonstrate the North will be seen as a forward-looking country unlike the past era which somberly focused on communist ideology," Go Myong-hyun, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, told The Korea Times.

By taking a more flexible approach "in line with the contemporary sensibilities and global trends" through YouTube videos, the regime is trying to dispel its status as a pariah state and instead promote itself as "a normal country" that appeals to a wider audience, professor Kim Philo at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University explained.

Seven-year-old Ri Su-jin talks about going to school in a video posted on North Korea's YouTube channel "New DPRK," June 9. / Captured from New DPRK

Is it necessary to regulate North Korea's new media content?

South Korea's National Security Act Article 7 and Information and Communications Network Act Article 44-7 prohibit access to content that praises or incites the activities of an antigovernment organization that can threaten national security, which includes North Korean propaganda.

Specifically, the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) regulates materials that plainly "propagate North Korea's Juche ideology and military-first policy, emphasize the supremacy of the North's political system, and praise the political leadership of the Kim dynasty." Juche is the North's self-reliance ideology.

However, it is ambiguous whether North Korea's new form of propaganda on YouTube should be considered as a violation of the domestic law. The practical difficulty of regulating such content arises from the fact that YouTube is a U.S.-owned platform that is not subject to South Korean law and that it is hard to confirm whether these videos are produced directly by the state, according to the Ministry of Unification.

Even if the videos are presumed to be made by the regime, if they do not contain materials that explicitly propagate or praise the North's political ideology in accordance with the KCSC's criteria, the commission may decide the videos to be "not applicable" to review.

As of now, it is deemed permissible to watch, subscribe to and comment on North Korea's YouTube channels, although sharing their links, making donations or engaging in live video chat with those in the North may be subject to the National Security Act, depending on the content. The unification ministry stated in June this year that it will begin holding talks with relevant government agencies to address the issue.

If implemented, regulation of North Korea's new media may face criticism as many view it to be impractical and unnecessary.

"Challenging and even denying access to the North's videos may be necessary if the regime spreads disinformation that endangers national security. However, propagandist materials that simply dramatize its internal affairs and everyday life of citizens have not reached that level of danger," Go said.

Kim Philo echoed the sentiment, adding that it is unacceptable for researchers in South Korea to be blinded by prohibition of access to the North's raw materials, when they should be given opportunities to study their neighbor thoroughly to come up with competitive strategies in preparation for unification, albeit purely hypothetical at this point in time.