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North Korea features YouTube child star in latest videos

North Korea has increased its presence on YouTube after Kim Jong Un met with world leaders in 2018. File Photo by Andrew Wong/UPI
North Korea has increased its presence on YouTube after Kim Jong Un met with world leaders in 2018. File Photo by Andrew Wong/UPI | License Photo

March 8 (UPI) -- A North Korean YouTube channel with more than 18,000 subscribers is promoting the regime's policies with videos featuring a child, part of an ongoing social media campaign to show "daily life" in the country.

The "New DPRK" channel, which has remained operational on the Google-owned platform while others were removed, features 8-year-old Ri Su Jin as "guide" to everyday North Korea.

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Ri first appeared on the channel in 2020. In one video, "Dental Checkup" in North Korea, Ri is seen praising the "dear father, Marshal Kim Jong Un" for building the hospital featured in the footage.

The channel claims Ri was born in 2013 at Pyongyang maternity hospital. Her past videos included anti-U.S. propaganda, but more recent films show her relatively privileged life at home, which includes a large sofa, a fish tank and a treadmill, Herald Business reported Monday.

Ri has also been featured in a video promoting the regime's "80-day battle" that began in October and ended in December. In the video, Ri said she "most definitely wants to please" her parents because they report to work in the early morning. Ri also said her parents were gone by the time she was awake, according to Herald Business.

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North Korea's channels on YouTube have been removed multiple times. According to SBS in January, YouTube removed a North Korean lifestyle channel, "Echo of Truth," to comply with sanctions and regulations. Analysts in the South have said the channel was likely created by North Korea's Propaganda and Agitation Department, a government bureau under United Nations sanctions.

Pro-North Korean channels have also been targeted in recent years.

"Red Star TV" reportedly managed by a group based in Russia, previously has been removed, but its operators have been able to return and rebuild its online presence. The channel was accessible on Monday.

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