Harry Potter-loving North Korean vlogger comes from elite family close to Kims
NK News finds Song A lived in the UK with her diplomat father and is great-granddaughter of top military commander
Colin Zwirko July 20, 2022
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Song A invites viewers to keep a secret with her by sharing suggestions without her "mum" finding out in a video about a visit to the Okryu Children's Hospital in Pyongyang. The video's editors, likely from Sogwang Media Corporation, appeared to blur one specific figure standing in the background to protect their identity. | Image: Sary Voline YouTube (July 7, 2022)
An 11-year-old North Korean girl posing as an independent YouTuber keen on spreading “surprising” content about the country to foreign viewers comes from one of Pyongyang’s top elite families, an NK News investigation has found.
According to South Korean lawmaker Tae Yong-ho, the North Korean vlogger Im Song A is the daughter of a diplomat named Im Jun Hyok whom he worked with at the DPRK Embassy in London. Tae defected in 2016.
Song A’s great-grandfather was an elite military commander named Ri Ul Sol, who was in charge of guarding the Kim family, Tae told NK News.
Tae said that before he defected Song A was with her father at the embassy, suggesting her time in the U.K. is responsible for her strong British accent.
The revelation adds to the evidence that the social media propaganda campaign is a project of the state-run Sogwang Media Corporation, and that it has likely received the approval of the country’s top leadership and Kim Jong Un himself.
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The revelation that Song A lived in London contradicts what she said in her introduction video or suggests she intentionally omitted facts at the direction of the video’s adult producers. ''You may wonder how I can speak in English this fluently, right?'' she asked viewers in her introduction, answering only that ''it is my mum who had done all the work'' instead of revealing she lived abroad. | Video: “Sary Voline” YouTube (April 26, 2022)
ALL IN THE FAMILY
Footage of Song A with her great-grandfather Ri and their family appears in a state TV documentary about DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and important military figures, NK News has confirmed, lending support to Tae’s claim.
The girl also confirmed that Im is her last name in an introduction video posted on YouTube, and she featured her mother and grandmother in other videos — both of whom appear in state TV footage with Song A as well.
The names of her mother and grandmother are not known so it is unclear if her father, Im Jun Hyok, married into the family or is a direct descendant of Ri Ul Sol, the patriarch. But state TV footage, including from Ri’s funeral, suggests her grandmother is Ri’s daughter.
Song A appeared in her mother’s arms in a clip of Ri Ul Sol and their family gathering to look at picture books. Dotted white lines connect comparison images of Song A, her mother and grandmother as seen in recent YouTube videos. | Images: KCTV (top), Sary Voline YouTube (bottom and right)
Song A’s grandmother shaking hands with Kim Jong Un at Ri Ul Sol’s funeral in Nov. 2015 | Image: KCTVRi died of lung cancer in Nov. 2015 and Kim decided to give him an abnormally large state funeral, according to the documentary, signifying his and his family’s importance to the DPRK leader. It showed Kim crying and consoling each member of the family at the funeral.
Song A did not appear in the funeral footage, perhaps because she would have been in London at the time. Her father arrived there to serve as North Korea’s counsellor for maritime affairs by at least Oct. 2015, a month before Ri’s death, and stayed until at least Jan. 2019, according to archives of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s London Diplomatic List.
Ri is among an elite group of “partisans” who reportedly fought with Kim Il Sung against Japanese colonialism. He commanded army divisions during the Korean War and worked his way up to become commander of the Supreme Guard Command in 1996.
Ri Ul Sol with Kim Il Sung (left) and Kim Jong Il (right) | Images: KCTV
Ri Ul Sol and Kim Jong Un appeared close during their multiple public meetings | Image: KCTVA quote by Kim Jong Un calling Ri the “finest revolutionary comrade-in-arms” of the former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il hangs inside the Korean Revolution Museum in Pyongyang, alongside portraits of Ri with the two Kims and other artifacts from his career.
He was highly decorated by the former leaders, and Kim Jong Un chose him as the first-ever recipient of the Order of Kim Jong Il, according to the documentary.
In another sign of his importance to Kim, the DPRK leader even appeared to remove his grandmother and national hero Kim Jong Suk’s name from the Supreme Guard Command’s school located to the east of Pyongyang, renaming it the Ri Ul Sol Guard General Military School (리을설호위종합군관학교).
A soldier carries a Korean People’s Army (KPA) flag which says “Ri Ul Sol Guard General Military School (리을설호위종합군관학교)” at the campus formerly called the Kim Jong Suk General Military School (김정숙종합군관학교). The school features a large bronze statue of Kim Jong Suk holding a gun together with Kim Il Sung (coordinates: 38.968267°, 126.062865°). | Image: KCTVELITE MEDIA EXPERIMENT
Sogwang started the English-language social media campaign in 2018 and soon moved to make a young woman named Un A the face of the operation, releasing videos meant to counter negative news about the country.
Un A introduced Song A in a 2020 video about Ryonhwa Elementary school in Pyongyang’s Junggu district, and Song A now has taken over her role as the primary English-language video host alongside other “vloggers” who appear on social media platforms speaking Korean, Russian and Chinese.
Song A also represents the second known connection between Sogwang and the foreign ministry.
While it is unclear if Un A is related to Sogwang CEO Jon Kyong Hui, NK News previously revealed that Jon is married to North Korea’s current ambassador to China, Ri Ryong Nam. Un A disappeared from Sogwang’s content around the time Ri moved to China in early 2021.
An example of censorship likely not initiated by Song A from a video released this week, showing a person blurred in the background to protect their identity – an occurrence now seen in two of her videos | Image: Sary Voline YouTube (July 19, 2022)
Song A said in her first video published in April that she wanted to chat about her favorite book Harry Potter with her viewers, holding up a version of the novel printed in China including both Chinese and English text | Image: Sary Voline YouTube (April 26, 2022)While Sogwang sells its videos as organic, independent creations, internet access in North Korea is restricted to only those in select government agencies and groups within state-run media organizations. Obvious state interference also continues to appear in Sogwang videos, such as blurring figures in the background of Song A’s videos and those of previous hosts.
NK News was first to report the link between Sogwang and the social media operation, based on evidence that Twitter and Weibo sockpuppet accounts posted content before they appeared on Sogwang’s official webpage.
Chad O’Carroll contributed to this story. Edited by Arius Derr.
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