North Korea Bolsters Anti-South Korea Propaganda with Dedicated Video Production Unit
Seoul, September 26, 2023 – North Korea is intensifying its anti-South Korea messaging through a newly expanded propaganda unit focused on producing audiovisual materials, according to a report by Daily NK. The unit, operating under the Workers’ Party’s 10th Bureau, is creating videos using content sourced from south Korean media – including news reports, YouTube videos, and social media - to portray south Korean society as riddled with conflict and despair.
The materials highlight issues such as protests, strikes, youth unemployment, crime, and a deepening housing crisis, specifically targeting young North Koreans. The institute determined that video content is more effective than written materials for engaging younger audiences and allows for repeated use in educational settings.
This shift represents a strategic change within the North Korean government, moving away from abstract concepts of national unity and reunification toward actively defining South Korea as an adversary. The goal is to dismantle any remaining notions of unification and reinforce the “antagonistic two-state theory.”
The unit now collaborates with multiple government departments, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to analyze South Korean diplomatic activity and the Munitions Industry Department to assess weapons systems. It also works with the Workers’ Party of Korea’s Propaganda and Agitation Department on content focusing on South korean social problems.
A source within North Korea described the video production as a “strategic mission” aimed at eliminating perceived illusions about unification by showcasing South Korean societal issues.
This growth coincides with recent reports from Daily NK detailing instructions to replace maps of the entire Korean peninsula with “half maps” in government agencies nationwide, ahead of the regime founding day on September 9.
