Uriminzokkiri

Uriminzokkiri (Korean: 우리 민족끼리, lit. '"Among our [Korean] race"')[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] is a state-controlled website that provides news from North Korea's Central News Agency.[9][10][11][12] The site also distributes information over Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr.[11]

Uriminzokkiri
Type of site
News
Available inKorean (Northern dialect), English, Chinese, Japanese, Russian
OwnerKorea 615 Shenyang Co.
EditorKorea June 15 Edition Company (Korean: 조선륙일오편집사)
URLwww.uriminzokkiri.com
CommercialNo
RegistrationOptional
Launched2003
Current statusOnline
Uriminzokkiri
Chosŏn'gŭl
우리민족끼리
Hancha
우리民族끼리
Revised RomanizationUriminjokkiri
McCune–ReischauerUriminjokkiri

Uriminzokkiri is currently blocked in South Korea.

History

In August 2010, Uriminzokkiri launched YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter accounts in an effort to improve North Korea's image around the world.[13] Uriminzokkiri maintains an account on the Chinese video platform Youku, and has uploaded more than 14,000 videos.

On 18 September 2012, Uriminzokkiri uploaded a video containing a photoshopped image of South Korea's president-elect Park Geun-hye performing the dance moves of "Gangnam Style". The video also mocks her as a devoted admirer of the Yushin system of autocratic rule set up by her father, Park Chung-hee.[14][15]

On 5 February 2013, a film that featured New York in flames was removed from YouTube after a DMCA complaint filed by Activision due to the use of footage from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.[16][17] On 19 March 2013, a new North Korean propaganda video was posted on the Uriminzokkiri YouTube channel that presented images of an imagined missile attack on U.S. government buildings in Washington, D.C., including the White House and the Capitol.[18]

On 3 April 2013, hacker group Anonymous claimed it had stolen 15,000 user passwords as part of a cyberwar against the DPRK.[19] Several hours later, Anonymous claimed responsibility for hacking into the Uriminzokkiri website and its Twitter and Flickr accounts.[20][21]

On 21 May 2013, Uriminzokkiri claimed that North Korea's threat to target Cheong Wa Dae (using unmanned aerial vehicles instead of surface-to-surface missiles) was intended to use "terrain features for cover". It also pointed out that the UAVs are capable of hitting Cheong Wa Dae in less than three minutes travelling at 925 km/h. The website further boasted that North Korean drones are also capable of attacking the Capital Defence Command on the southern side of Mount Kwanak in southern Seoul.[22] South Korea's top brass ignored these imminent provocations, just as they did in 2010 before the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan.[23]

On 24 March 2014, weeks after Australian missionary John Short[24] was deported from North Korea for "anti-state" religious acts, Uriminzokkiri released an article using biblical terms and references to describe the country as a utopian paradise. Titled "Korea is a human paradise in which Jesus would have nothing to do even if he came", the article portrays North Korea as a land with free healthcare, free education, and no taxes thanks to Kim Jong-un. The article claimed that its title is a direct quote from a famous American religious figure who visited North Korea but is not named throughout the article.[12]

In January 2017 the American internet platform YouTube terminated Uriminzokkiri's YouTube Channel, due to legal complaints without stating any further information.[25]

Etymology

There does not seem to be any definitive translation of "Uriminzokkiri" into English. The Uriminzokkiri website itself proffers no English translation. The term can be broken down into uri, meaning "we", "our", or "collective self";[26] minjok, meaning "race",[3] "people", "nation", or in this case simply "Koreans"; and kkiri, meaning "with", "between", "together", or "among", in some cases with an exclusionary nuance, presumably intended in this case to convey the notion that Korean issues are to be solved by the Koreans themselves and not third parties or superpowers. The translation "on our own as a nation"[27] has been used by a major newspaper. A relatively literal translation would be "Our People (or Peoples) Together/As One", "Bringing Our Nation(s) Together", or "We the [Korean] People". Incorporating the exclusionary nuance of kkiri, and being less literal, might yield "Just Us Koreans".

See also

References
  1. "Nicholas Eberstadt Transcript". Conversations with Bill Kristol. March 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018. Korean word minjok, which they would translate for us as “nationality,” but is much closer in the way they use it to race.
  2. "Nicholas Eberstadt on Understanding North Korea". Conversations with Bill Kristol. March 2018.
  3. "New Pledge of Allegiance to Reflect Growing Multiculturalism". The Chosun Ilbo. South Korea. 18 April 2011. Archived from the original on April 20, 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2011. The military has decided to omit the word 'minjok,' which refers to the Korean race, from the oath of enlistment for officers and soldiers, and replace it with "the citizen." The measure reflects the growing number of foreigners who gain Korean citizenship and of children from mixed marriages entering military service.
  4. Lee, Jin-seo (2016). North Korean Prison Camps. Radio Free Asia. p. 26. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  5. "Sometimes, a missile is just a missile". One Free Korea. 6 February 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  6. Hurt, Michael W. (4 August 2015). "Thoughts on Minjok and the Matrix". Deconstructing Korea. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  7. "What is Minjok?". Hojunester. WordPress. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  8. Doolan, Yuri W. (June 2012). "Being Amerasian in South Korea: Purebloodness, Multiculturalism, and Living Alongside the U.S. Military Empire" (PDF). The Ohio State University. p. 63. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  9. "Uriminzokkiri". North Korea Tech. 7 December 2010. Retrieved 2015-05-22.
  10. "Facebook deletes North Korean account, but it resurfaces". Reuters. 23 August 2010.
  11. "North Korea Jumps Onto Twitter". PCWorld. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  12. "North Korea: Move on, Jesus. There's nothing to do here – International – WORLD". Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  13. "N Korea Twitter account 'hacked'". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  14. "N. Korea takes 'Gangnam Style' shot at South politician". The Straits Times. August 20, 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
  15. Kwon, K. J.; Mullen, Jethro (September 20, 2012). "North Korean video evokes 'Gangnam Style' to taunt South Korean candidate". CNN. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  16. "North Korea propaganda taken off YouTube after Activision complaint". BBC News. 6 February 2013.
  17. Herald, The Korea (27 February 2013). "N. Korea warns U.S. is within range of strategic rockets, nukes". Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  18. "North Korean video shows imagined attack on Washington – CNN.com". CNN. 19 March 2013.
  19. Graziano, Dan. "Anonymous threatens cyberwar on North Korea, steals 15,000 passwords". BGR News. Yahoo! News. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  20. "Hackers hijack pro-North Korea website Uriminzokkiri". Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  21. "North Korean social media apparently hacked". CNN. 5 April 2013.
  22. "Seoul Ignored N.Korean Drone Threat". Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  23. "Military Wakes Up Late to Another N.Korean Threat". Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  24. "Released SA missionary heads home". 3 March 2014.
  25. "YouTube blocked another channel from North Korea (uriminzokkiri)!". Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  26. "우리(URI) – THE KOREAN NOTION OF THE COLLECTIVE SELF". Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  27. Roberts, Laura (21 August 2010). "North Korea joins Facebook". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
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