YouTube Stars Are Now Being Used for North Korean Propaganda

[jeliza]

British vlogger Louis Cole just wants to focus on the positive things about one of the world’s most oppressive nations.

Louis Cole is a 33-year-old vlogger from the U.K. with about 1.8 million subscribers on his FunForLouis YouTube channel. He’s a highly competent travel vlogger (...) Cole, like his daily vlogger brethren, is relentlessly positive, projecting a chill-dude, laid-back, good-vibes vibe—sometimes to a pathological degree.

Which brings me to his travels in North Korea, a series of videos that he’s currently uploading. Cole and a bunch of other vloggers recently went on a trip through the reclusive, politically repressive nation, beaming back positive depictions of people and places that all seem . . . awfully tidy, judging from what we know—or, to be fair, what politicians and journalists tell us—about North Korea. It all seems highly suspicious, this vision of a country, a North Korean media tour similar to Vice’s fascinating documentary, only without any of the critical context and perspective.


In the description section of one of his North Korea videos, Cole writes, “I’m trying to focus on positive things in the country and combat the purely negative image we see in the Media.” Which, O.K., sure. But as another vlogger shows us in his own video from the DPRK (vloggers seem to be going there en masse), these videos are meant to capture a very carefully curated vision of a country whose human rights abuses are “without parallel in the contemporary world,” according to Human Rights Watch. Cole has, so far, not really made mention of any of that, choosing instead to go for a light tone, oohing and ahhing over abundant food in a country ravaged by hunger.

Some viewers have pointed this out to Cole in the comments sections of his videos. One commenter, Chris Prouse, (herself a vlogger) wrote, “I appreciate that you’re showing us a different part of the world, and North Korea might have built monuments that are symbolic of unity . . . but it’s pretty hard to ignore North Korea’s human rights violations, and I hope it’s something you mention after the trip, for the sake of helping people gather a balanced, informed view of what’s happening there.” Cole hasn’t engaged much, if at all, with that critique.

Look, I don’t know if the North Korean government paid for the trip, or had any involvement at all in these videos. All I know is the North Korean government tends to take a pretty active role in deciding who gets to tour around their country shooting video and sending it out to the world.



Read the whole article (which has a lot of links I didn't add in) at source: Vanity Fair, video from Louis Cole youtube

I sure as hell hope he's planning on doing some video after he's safely out of the country dealing with non-rosy realities.
He's home in California according to his instagram and posted a video about "North Korean Surfer Chicks" yesterday. I just can't.

Comments

[chastainy.livejournal.com]

people in the comments are saying he's back home, as he didn't have Wi-Fi while visiting there

[jeliza]

Seriously? What a tool.

[chastainy.livejournal.com]

what a dumbass, all these NKorea vlogs are boring and i feel like it's always the same thing with some tour guide smiling and moving them from preselected location to another

[yejun.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say a single negative thing about N.Korea either while still in the country. I do hope he's planning on talking about it after leaving though.

[pastelpinklace.livejournal.com]

Ugh why do dumb ass white ppl insist on going

[timetobegin.livejournal.com]

Just the title of the video - 'Beyond the tourism'. A foreigner in North Korea is NEVER going to see beyond what the government wants them to see, unless the foreigner wishes a one way ticket to a labourcamp. If this guy genuinely wants to show a 'different' side to North Korea, then his intentions are horribly misguided. Either way, NK must be loving this stuff indeed.

[caipirinhas.livejournal.com]

Literally why.

And IA with the vlogger who commented. I hope there is at least SOME discussion of the human rights concerns, etc.

[saemcrh.livejournal.com]

I can't stand Louis.

I watched a couple of his vids last year and he's such a typical white-hipster who thinks he's an enlightened cultural advocate, just because he visited an 'exotic' country for a couple of days.

Him visiting North Korea isn't the problem (it is one, but not the biggest issue I have with this), but him saying that he wants to show another side to the stories you hear etc, is. Because those watching him and taking his vids as gospel will come away with the impression that N. Korea is just some enjoyable place. It shows complete ignorance on his part, or that he's aware and doesn't care as long as he only sees the good parts.

[honeyfunnybunny.livejournal.com]

"beyond the tourism" ok bye
i definitely wasn't expecting this, but i'm rme at this ~vacation~ perspective we're supposed to be amazed by when people risk their lives to flee from this place.

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

How do you see the positive in a tyrant starving his people I'm curious?
The lack of free speech? or the constant human rights violations?

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

this is def sponsored.

ngl i'd like to visit NK one day. im from germany, and NK reminds me of our past - you know, hitler and that stuff.

edit:
what the heck is this video

[broadcities.livejournal.com]

omg that video is so horrible!

1) what is that catchbait title? 'north korean surfer chicks' yes let's attract some fetishists!! and these girls are EVEN MORE exotic because they are still 'untouched' by western culture because of their oppressive gov

2) at one point in the video (around 7 min in) they are recording a song with a north korean girl and tell her she sounds like justin bieber - when she says she doesn't know him, they are AMAZED. "he's the biggest pop star in the world" "you don't know him??" "oh my god that is so cool!" yeah it's soooo cool not having free press or free access to international media...

3) his dreads

[yixingsforehead.livejournal.com]

same here, i'm from hungary, planning to visit north korea when i'll have enough money. they have east german metros i think? czechoslovakian trams for sure. and then the system reminds me of stalin...

(i actually want to collect so much money so that i would be able to afford a tailored trip. like the (clueless) nz motorists who went from russia to south korea via the north.)

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

yes! their metros are from east germany, basically the ones that we would throw away bc they're too old..

iirc you can also go there as an exchange student..

[yixingsforehead.livejournal.com]

yes, i though of that, too... they have foreign teachers as well. but idk. for 10-14 days touring i know i could play along to a level that doesn't get me and the people around me in trouble. exchange student, though... it's a great way to interact with the future elite, it's a really good opportunity, i wish i could do it. i'm worried i couldn't control myself enough in a setting like that. are you planning on doing that?

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

"future elite" - which future elite are you speaking of? future elite of NK? then yes. future elite of science? no.

[yixingsforehead.livejournal.com]

elite of nk

[mamamoos.livejournal.com]

how exactly does some white youtuber of all people hope to show us "behind the tourism" loool

[ostsiberia.livejournal.com]

loool they can inform us about the real NK, better than NK refugees.

[chimpansee.livejournal.com]

This person must either be a complete idiot or not have a soul. Ffs. There are some pro-North Korea freaks on Youtube, it's a scary place.

[typhlogirl.livejournal.com]

well if a white man says it's fine!

[smilla-sini.livejournal.com]

i actually know two students who spent a semester there and then another one in sk and both liked nk more which was like ??? to me
they could move around the country without a supervisor which was also kinda shocking (there was around 8 people in their group), but considering the university/country they are from i'm not surprised

[smilla-sini.livejournal.com]

look up mgimo

[broadcities.livejournal.com]

this is so embarrassing. he looks exactly like the 'chill' 'i'm just hanging out with the locals and exploiting their hospitality' kind of backpackers i always try to avoid while traveling

vloggers (and bloggers for that matter) should take some journalist courses or social responsibility courses because the way some of them deal with sponsored posts/gifts/trips is so misleading

[audiograms.livejournal.com]

I noticed a couple travel vloggers coling up in my recommended, doing vids in NK. I think it's digusting.

[jrt131n.livejournal.com]

Oh a wypipole doing wypipole things again I see....

Yeah let's just ignore the fact that NK people are suffering and barely eatting, have no freedom of speech and are strip of all rights cause you know, they let some yt boy with nasty looking doodoo dreads skip around the nice part of the country.

They just do anything without even trying to not be offensive.

[yixingsforehead.livejournal.com]

this guy... i don't know him, so don't know if he's so ignorant, or actually a genius and is planning a long-term connection with nk to get people out to visit the west. probably he's ignorant.

on the other hand it makes me infinitely sad when people try to discourage others from visiting north korea.
they probably don't know how incredibly lonely it is to live in that society (for those who are not fully brainwashed, and don't get me started on if there are people who aren't fully brainwashed or not). don't leave north koreans alone. yes, in an ideal world you could support the oppressed without having to deal with anything with the regime, but that's not how it works... it's lucky they even allow anyone in, people should go while they can.

edit: changed the pronoun for koreans

[sadistic-dance.livejournal.com]

Is that a white man with dreads? I don't even need to watch.

[angela-derp-otp.livejournal.com]

Welp a white man with dreads? seems legit!

[cherrypop.livejournal.com]

Not gonna watch. Why would anyone fund North Korea in any part when we know exactly where their funding goes?

On the other hand, there's something to be said about the collective thoughts of people who visit NK (not counting weird white people) and defect from it. It's got its bad points but the US media deeeeefinitely distorts the way things are over there, similarly to how they distort the NK situation here in South Korea. "North Korea is just a bad country and that's it!" is not the reality of the situation at all.

[chibi-rei.livejournal.com]

You couldn't pay me to go there.
I didn't even do the DMZ tour (and I lived there for quite a while). However, I would consider doing it if I go back. Still.... seems creepy.