North Korea has a YouTube channel?
In this photo released by Korean Central News Agency via Korean News Service, North Korean youths and students dance to celebrate Kim Jong-Il. The videos and images that leave North Korea are carefully monitored by the government.
One interesting element of modern North Korea is the tentative steps that the country has taken to embrace the online world. Take, for example, the flash-heavy website released earlier this year (that used a $15 template), or the official (though curiously unverified) Twitter account.
Perhaps its unsurprising then, that the country has had its own YouTube channel since 2010, with a good number of videos posted every day.
Most videos have barely a hundred or two views, and with good reason — few people within the country actually have access to the internet (and the government has good reason to suppress it). It appears that the videos are probably aimed at the wider world.
We sat and watched a number of the videos from the last year, and the videos are united in their love of emotional voice-overs, midi-orchestras, and unusual cross fades. Vaguely, they break up into certain categories, such as news broadcasts of grandiose public performances, nationalistic songs or cartoons for kids.
More from our partners at Business Insider:
Business Insider: You Must Go to Portugal to See How Bad THings Really Are
Business Insider: North Korea's Economy Had A Relatively Good 2011
Business Insider: CHART: How The Country You Live In Affects Whether You Click On Facebook Ads
Business Insider: Bitly, One Of New York's Hottest Startups, Raises $15 Million
Business Insider: The Woman Thought To Be Kim Jong Un's New Wife Is Famous For Singing A Song Called 'Excellent Horse-Like Lady'
The story you just read is accessible and free to all because thousands of listeners and readers contribute to our nonprofit newsroom. We go deep to bring you the human-centered international reporting that you know you can trust. To do this work and to do it well, we rely on the support of our listeners. If you appreciated our coverage this year, if there was a story that made you pause or a song that moved you, would you consider making a gift to sustain our work through 2024 and beyond?