North Korea using Twitter and YouTube

The New York Times carried an interesting article today on how North Korea is using Twitter and YouTube to bolster its propaganda efforts.  During the last month, a series of video clips have been posted to YouTube, brimming with vitriol and satire against leaders in South Korea or in the U.S.  During the past week, North Korea also began operating a Twitter account under the name uriminzok or "our nation."
A spokesman for the National Unification Ministry in Seoul said “It is clear that these accounts carry the same propaganda as the North’s official news media, but we have not been able to find out who operates them." The two Koreas agreed to stop their psychological war after their first summit meeting in 2000, but the situation has changed following the sinking of a South Korean warship in the West Sea earlier this year.

Dokdo and Cyber Diplomacy: YouTube Exchanges

While the real-world political war over Dokdo may be entering into a lull of sorts, the exchanges taking place over YouTube have picked up pace.    The following is an interesting version of Arirang as commentary on Dokdo.

More on Dokdo and Cyber Diplomacy 독도는 한국땅 이라!

George W. Bush made one of the smartest moves of his presidency by clearly siding with Korea on the matter of Dokdo. In an important sense, he had no choice. History is also on the side of Korea. An interesting part of South Korea's diplomatic offensive in cyber-space can be seen on YouTube. Many Koreans and others who support Korea's case have posted videos. I really liked the following song and video by 박명수. It is worth your time to view it, even if you don't understand all of the Korean lyrics. After all Dokdo is Korean land!

Photos Show that Dokdo is Visible from Ulleungdo

As further support for my posting on Dokdo and Cyber-Diplomacy, the English edition of the Joongang Ilbo today published a short article describing how several people have actually photographed Dokdo from Ulleungdo, using an ordinary camera lense.  One of those photos accompanied the article and is published here.  Dokdo is about 47 miles from Ulleungdo.  According to the article, Korean government records written during the Joseon Dynasty, including “Geography of the Sejong-Sillok,” written in 1454, and “Geography of Goryeo History,” written in 1451 include phrases that people “could see Dokdo from Ulleung Island on a clear day.” 
Finally, for further information about Dokdo, checkout the "Cyber Dokdo" site maintained by the Gyeongbuk Provincial Government.    A very nicely done web site.

Dokdo and Cyber-Diplomacy

Dokdo is in the news again. References to the island as Japanese territory in newly published guidelines for middle school teachers in Japan provoked widespread anger and demonstrations in Korea. In fact, last night some of the participants in a candlelight vigil against the import of American beef apparently moved over in front of the Japanese Embassy to join the protest against Japan's latest actions. Others took the message about Dokdo to international media and into cyberspace. According to the Korea Times, vocalist Kim Jang-hoon, 41, teamed up with a freelance Korean public relations expert Seo Kyoung-duk to publish a full-page ad in The New York Times. Headlined "Do You Know?" the ad stated that``For the last 2,000 years, the body of water between Korean and Japan has been called the `East Sea.' Dokdo (two islands) located in the East Sea is a part of Korean territory. The Japanese government must acknowledge this fact.''  There is a great deal of information about Dokdo on the internet and this site provides a good starting point for anyone interested in more information about the issue. The official web site of the Korean government, Korea.net, also carries a great deal of information on the Dokdo issue. Korea.net also includes a Cyber Dokdo History Hall.