Twitter Welcomes North Korea
Though North Korea blocks internet access to almost all of its 24 million citizens, the isolated country joined Twitter on August 12. Since then North Korea has gained more than 5,000 followers, many from Seoul and South Korea.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, Phillip Crowley, welcomes North Korea to the social media network, labelling the country the “hermit kingdom” that has finally come out of its’ shell.
“The hermit kingdom will not change overnight but technology once introduced can’t be shut down” Crowley tweets.
According to Bloomberg, South Korean citizens are warned that they could be violating a law by posting comments on North Korea’s wall. Under the law governing exchanges with North Korea, South Koreans need to notify the government when they come into contact with North Koreans and they also need to get approval when travelling across the border.
Twitter is banned in China and Pakistan. Iran threatened to shut down the social networking site after its citizens used Twitter last year to spread protests throughout the country and broadcast it globally.
Though North Korea is thought to be the last country to join social networks, it is slowly emerging virally. Last July North Korea joined YouTube, posting more than 80 videos which mainly accused South Korea of instigating war. Now, part of the Twitter network, North Korea is posting messages under “Uriminzok”, meaning “our people”. The English version of the committee’s site contains mostly propagandized articles saluting its Leader Kim Jong II.
Picture by B1ue5ky
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