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| This undated screenshot image shows Olivia Natasha-YuMi Space DPRK daily, presumed to be a North Korean propaganda channel on YouTube. Yonhap |
South Korea has blocked local access to three YouTube channels, presumably run by North Korea for propaganda purposes, upon request by Seoul's spy agency, amid concerns over the North's psychological warfare against the South, officials said Friday.
As of 2:00 p.m., the three YouTube channels ― the Sally Parks SongA Channel, Olivia Natasha- YuMi Space DPRK daily and New DPRK ― are not accessible from South Korea, with a message on the platform showing that they are "not available."
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) has requested the Korea Communications Standards Commission, the country's internet censorship body, block access to those channels on concerns that they target the South Korean audience, according to officials at the commission.
"North Korea has been running such YouTube channels as part of its psychological warfare against South Korea. It is our job to respond to the North's psychological campaign," an NIS official said.
While the video-streaming platform YouTube has a record of blocking channels run by Uriminzokkiri, the North's propaganda outlet, the latest case involving a request by the spy agency is considered unusual.
The blocked channels, which feature young North Korean women and children as key narrators, were seen as the North's attempt to shift away from its traditional propaganda method to a more engaging style targeting the wider global audience.
The Sally Parks SongA Channel, for instance, features daily vlogs by an 11-year-old girl named Song-a, who introduces herself as an elementary school student in Pyongyang who loves to read the fantasy fiction "Harry Potter" series.
Despite the attempt to casually portray everyday life in the North, observers have raised the view that the YouTube channels are part of a carefully orchestrated propaganda scheme in a country where access to the internet and overseas content is restricted.
The North's propaganda outlets use various social media platforms, including Instagram and Twitter, to propagandize its regime. (Yonhap)
