North Korean YouTuber Yumi Returns: Sharing Life with Luxury and King Crab

The North Korean YouTuber Yumi in Pyongyang, who had her account shut down, has resumed her activities.

It was confirmed on the 10th that North Korean YouTuber Yumi opened a new channel, “Olivia Natasha,” on July 17, 2023, and has been active since then.

The channel has approximately 600 subscribers and has 24 uploaded videos. The most recent video uploaded a month ago, shows Yumi sending New Year greetings and revealing a meal with various high-end dishes such as king crab.

In addition to this, Yumi enjoys horse riding, ballet, grilling meat on a fire pit, and watching soccer games. In August of last year, she also introduced the Pyongyang subway while carrying a luxury bag that appeared to be made by Christian Dior.

Yumi is active on YouTube and runs a channel on the Chinese online video-sharing site TikTok. She has been operating the channel since posting her first video in January 2023.

Previously, Google shut down YouTube channels promoting the North Korean regime last year. This included channels run by Yumi and another North Korean child YouTuber, Songa. Some North Korean channels were also blocked from domestic access by the Broadcasting Communications Commission at the request of the National Intelligence Service.

At that time, Google explained the channel shutdown: “We are dedicated to complying with applicable U.S. sanctions and trade compliance laws,” and “We are enforcing related policies according to our service terms. After reviewing, we shut down the channel according to our policy.”

Despite Google’s actions, Yumi continues to be active by opening a new channel.

Experts speculate that the channel is not an individual YouTuber’s activity but content promoting the North Korean regime of high-ranking officials. The fact that she continues her activities despite the channel blockade is analyzed to be due to its effective propaganda.