On October 28, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that YouTube had recently removed several pro-North Korea channels, citing violations of its policies on spam and fraudulent activities. YouTube deleted accounts such as “Phuong DPRK Daily,” “Chollima Frontline,” and “Moranbong Band” on October 24, all of which shared North Korean-related content.
As of October 28, a notice on these channels states, “This channel has been removed for violating YouTube’s community guidelines,” while some accounts are no longer searchable.
“Phuong DPRK Daily” had been translating North Korean Central TV broadcasts into English, while “Chollima Frontline” and “Moranbong Band” posted North Korean films and music.
Subscriber counts for the channels ranged from about 63,000 for “Phuong DPRK Daily” to 9,000 for “Moranbong Band” and 2,000 for “Chollima Frontline.”
These accounts were reportedly run by individuals or groups based in European countries such as Poland and Germany. Notably, “Chollima Frontline” was managed by the Poland-Korea Friendship Association, which has also been offering a paid subscription service for North Korean Central TV broadcasts since April.
The administrator of “Chollima Frontline” told RFA, “YouTube stated that our channel will not be restored, only mentioning ‘spam and fraudulent activity’ without providing specific reasons.” They claimed the channel was “strictly non-political” and suggested the deletions could be linked to recent reports on North Korean soldiers being deployed to Russia.
The administrator added, “If concrete evidence of North Korean soldiers in Ukraine surfaces, similar deletions are likely to continue, which is disappointing for both North Korea enthusiasts and analysts.”
In March, YouTube also removed other pro-North Korea channels, including “Explore DPRK,” the “UK-Korea Friendship Association,” and the “Turkey-Korea Friendship Association.” At the time, Google, YouTube’s parent company, stated that it was making efforts to comply with U.S. sanctions and trade regulations against North Korea, citing policy reviews that led to the removal of these accounts.
BY JAESUNG BAE, YOUNGNAM KIM [kim.youngnam@koreadaily.com]
