Propaganda in 140 characters as North Korea enters the Twittersphere

Continuously condemned by organisations for being one of the countries in which citizens are least free and where the large majority of the population is not even aware that the Internet exists, North Korea has made its first steps in the world of social media opening up an official Twitter account.

Using the Twitter username @uriminzok – which in Korean translates to "our people" – North Korea has taken to the globally popular microblogging site as part of a new digital PR campaign.

The regime's first tweet, posted on August 12th, roughly translates as: "Website, 'our nation itself' is a Twitter account" and other tweets posted since link to past speeches praising the regime's "dear leader" Kim Jong-il, and also a denunciation of reports the country's military sank a South Korean navy ship.

The Twitter venture follows closely behind the launch of a YouTube account (uriminzokkiri) to which more than 75 videos have already been uploaded in four weeks.

However, Gilles Lordet, the chief editor at press freedom body Reporters Without Borders, was less enthusiastic about the country’s move move onto social media sites stating that it is the natural extension of government propaganda.

Quoted in the Guardian, he said "for people inside North Korea this makes no difference at all. I don't consider what they're going to say on their Twitter page as honest or objective, so it's not something we can welcome.”

"This is about the abroad image of the country. Now they're trying to work on the image of North Korea outside of the country because they have the possibility of the tools, that's what is new.”