An increasing number of North Korean defectors are telling the international community about the reality of North Korea in English through’Youtube’, the world’s largest internet video sharing site. Those who operate more than 10 channels in the United States and South Korea said that the impact is very high, with people of various nationalities showing great interest, and said they want to be a welcome source for change and reconstruction in North Korea. Reporter Kim Young-kwon reports.
South Korean lawmaker Tae Young-ho, who served as a North Korean project in the UK, started broadcasting in English through his YouTube channel (Tae Young-ho TV) on the 15th.
[녹취: 태영호 의원] “Hello Nice to meet you all. My name is The Yongho..”
Rep. Tae said, under the theme of’Why did the Kims exterminate Christianity?’, the reason why the North Korean regime exterminated religion without persecuting religion like other communist countries is closely related to the political structure of North Korea. He explained in detail the background in fluent English.
[녹취: 태영호 의원] “The main reason for the extermination of the freedom of religion in North Korea is related to current North Korean political structure.”
Rep. Tae explained that North Korea imitated Christian doctrines such as the Ten Commandments to deify its leaders with ten principles, and that it was the only one in the history of world communism to inherit power to their third generation children. I said I can.
In the U.S., Yeonmi Park, a North Korean human rights activist, has been working on the’Voice of North Korea by Yeonmi Park’ channel, which started in August last year, and Lee Hyun-Seung-Lee Hyun-seo, brothers and sisters, and North Korean refugees who run the’Pyeonghaeton’ channel from an elite North Korean family. The’Evelyn’ channel operated by Mr. Berlin is representative.
In particular, Park Yeon-mi’s channel, which introduces various topics, from exposure to North Korean leaders’ families to stories of North Korean defectors seeking freedom, is so popular that the number of subscribers reached 500,000 in half a year.
[녹취: 박연미 씨 채널] “Silence of North Korean people…”
Park said to the VOA on the 16th that young people of various nationalities are looking for broadcasting because of English, and that they are realizing a far greater impact than notifying the reality of North Korea through the United Nations or face-to-face events in the past.
[녹취: 박연미 씨] “Brazil, India, Britain, and other countries like the United States are also very interested, but the whole world is really interested. Finland, Poland… I think English really became a big advantage because you showed a lot of interest in unexpected countries.”
In particular, the trend of the human rights movement is changing, as not only themselves but also English-speaking youth YouTubers of North Korean defectors are making serious human rights issues in North Korea tailored to the tastes of the younger generation.
[녹취: 박연미 씨] “I think YouTube opened the door. So I can go to the mainstream! Especially because it allows young people to be interested. In the past, people like Park Sang-hak and Kang Kang-hwan do it, but now, young friends and friends who speak a lot of English do it, it seems that young people also took a lot of interest in North Korean human rights issues. Fortunately.”
Park said that after learning English through American volunteers and friends in South Korea, he gained confidence in English while studying abroad, and he hoped that young North Koreans would also have this opportunity.
[녹취:평해튼 채널] “Welcome back to Pyongyanghattanite. I’am Hyun Seung Lee who is a North Korean escapee.”
The brothers and sisters Lee Hyun-seung and Lee Seo-hyun, who opened the’Pyeonghaeton’ channel at the end of last year, deal with interesting topics such as the North Korean regime’s funding system based on their experiences at schools and trading companies in Pyongyang.
Lee Hyun-seung told the VOA on the 16th, “It is very important for a North Korean who has experienced North Korea to speak freely to the international community online.”
[녹취: 이현승 씨] “Up to this point, North Koreans spoke out through South Korea and focused on promoting North Korea through South Korea, and there was a part where the people who came to speak were not yet able to speak English through the mouth of an interpreter, but now North Koreans prepare themselves. I think that I am making a voice by myself. I think that the North Koreans themselves can play a very important role in the international arena.”
Lee also said that he expects that the free speech of North Korean refugee youths will have a positive impact on life, such as challenges and pride, to residents and overseas dispatched personnel in North Korea.
At the same time, he said that he plans to produce a program that refutes in English the wrong arguments of the North Korean leadership, including the vulgar expressions in recent talks by Kim Jong-un’s younger sister, Vice President Kim Yeo-jeong.
[녹취: 이현승 씨] “When the North Korean leader Kim Yeo-jeong or the head of the country recklessly swear to the international community or Korea with very vulgar words and make a false statement, they try to make a statement that refutes this, and to inform the international community that it is not correct in English. (For this purpose) I am meeting young (North Korean defectors)”
Not only in the US but also in Korea, more and more young North Korean defectors are broadcasting on YouTube after learning English with the help of a private organization’FSI’ (Freedom Speakers International), a private organization that supports North Korean defectors’ capacity building.
[녹취: 박은희/정유나 씨 채널] “Welcome to my channel. My name is Eunhee park and I’m a North Korean defector…
Eun-hee Park, who runs’Eunhee from North Korea’, Yuna from DPRK, opened at the end of last year by Jung Yu-na, a popular entertainment program featuring North Korean defectors, and Heo Jun, who recently graduated from Seoul National University after leaving North Korea in her late teens. ‘Humans of North Korea’ channel, which is produced in English or English subtitles and Korean, is also attracting attention.
In particular, Heo Joon, the ancestor of North Korean defectors’ English YouTuber, has 240,000 subscribers, and videos on the topic of Koreans’ reactions and hugs to North Koreans are so popular that the number of views reaches 10 million.
Phil Robertson, deputy director for Asia at Human Rights Watch, an international human rights organization based in New York, told the VOA that the increasing number of North Korean refugees sending messages in English or English subtitles is a “significant step”.
[로버트슨 부국장] “The fact that North Korean defectors are increasingly give their messages in English, or with at least English subtitles, is an important step forward because this shows they recognize how important global opinion will be in determining what happens in North Korea.
This is an important step forward because it shows that North Korean refugees recognize how important international public opinion is in determining what is happening in North Korea.
Deputy Director Robertson also said that delivering North Korean defectors’ stories, ideas and analysis about North Korea in English means reaching a much wider audience than on the Korean Peninsula.
[로버트슨 부국장] “To relate their stories, ideas, and analysis about North Korea in English means reaching a much wider audience than just the Korean peninsula. What this also indicates is concerns about President Moon Jae-in’s lopsided policy… ”
At the same time, he said that it is worrisome and unfortunate that South Korea’s Moon Jae-in administration is silent about serious human rights violations in North Korea and does not listen to many North Korean defectors, but it is fortunate that North Korean defectors raise their voices to the international community through YouTube.
This is VOA News, Kim Young-kwon.