Appearance of North Korean Resident's Personal Twitter Account... Main Contents

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Dong-pyo]A Twitter account under the name of an individual North Korean resident has appeared, drawing attention. It is unusual to confirm an account under an individual's name rather than a North Korean organization.

According to officials on the 13th, two Twitter accounts introducing themselves as Kim Myung-il, Director of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, and Han Sung-il, Director of the Institute for National Reunification, were confirmed. Both accounts joined in October. After posting their first tweets on the 1st of last month, they posted dozens of tweets promoting the North Korean regime at intervals of 1 to 2 days.

In his first post on the 1st of last month, Director Han Sung-il stated, "I will deliver good news happening in Joseon (North Korea) and news about inter-Korean relations, kindly share various common knowledge such as our nation's culture and history, and look forward to smooth, active, and multifaceted communication with numerous internet users in the future," explaining the background of opening the account.

Tweets in English, Chinese, and Japanese, seemingly targeting users not only in the South but also overseas, were also noticeable. Most of the content mainly consisted of North Korean propaganda similar to existing external propaganda media, criticism of South Korean conservative forces, and encouragement for the 80-day battle, but recently, everyday content has also appeared.

On the Twitter account under the name of Director Kim Myung-il, a tweet appeared saying, "The anti-smoking law was adopted recently," and "I was a heavy smoker who still smoked. However, for myself and for a clean environment, although it will be very difficult, I have decided to quit smoking."

Recently, North Korea has been actively promoting its internal situation by opening accounts on social networking services (SNS) such as Twitter and YouTube. Currently, there are accounts operated by North Korean organizations on Twitter, such as 'Tongil-ui Meari' (Echo of Unification) and 'Uri Minjokkkiri' (Our Nation Together), but it is interpreted that they are trying to promote more familiarly by using personal accounts and everyday expressions.

At a regular briefing on the same day, Ministry of Unification Deputy Spokesperson Cho Hye-sil was asked whether the actual operator of the accounts was North Korean, and she replied, "It is difficult to ascertain whether the Twitter accounts are operated by North Korea."

She added, "As for SNS related to North Korean regime propaganda, I understand that there are various types of accounts operated by North Korean external propaganda media such as 'Chosun Today' and 'Uri Minjokkkiri,' as well as pro-North Korean organizations."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.