British vlogger ‘FunForLouis’ accused of filming YouTube ‘propaganda’ for NORTH KOREA
Web celeb shoots bizarrely upbeat series about life in the world's most isolated nation
It's the reclusive nation run by a oddball dictator with his finger on the nuclear button.
But did you know that North Korea is also a great place to go surfing or ride a few water slides?
Probably not, we'd wager, until you get a load of the unusually upbeat videos of "the most isolated nation on earth" shot by a 33-year-old British YouTube star called Louis Cole.
This happy-go-lucky web celeb spent a week in North Korea filming a series of films showing him enjoying activities more associated with Palm Beach than Pyongyang.
His films were so positive that he's been accused of creating propaganda for Kim Jong-Un.
"I’m trying to focus on positive things in the country and combat the purely negative image we see in the media," the Surrey-born star wrote.
In his bizarre videos, Louis and his chums are shown "pranking" the military, performing a conga line in Pyongyang Central Library and writing songs about how much they love surfing in North Korea.
Although Louis has insisted the trip was not "government sponsored", he has been criticised for visiting North Korea and failing to comment on its appalling human rights violations and the grim lives of its starving populace.
"The more you watch Cole’s videos from North Korea, the more you wonder if he’s plainly ignorant to the plight of many people in the country, or if he’s willingly doing an alarmingly thorough job of carrying water for Kim Jong Un’s regime—not really caring what the implications are, because, hey, cool trip," wrote Richard Lawson in Vanity Fair.
"When vloggers are accepting travel to North Korea to broadcast its riches and wonders to the Western world while many of the country’s own citizens starve and suffer unimaginably... I think we’ve arrived at a very strange and troubling place indeed."
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Louis does not appear to have dealt with the dark aspects of the country, although he did reveal the following observations during a vlog shot with his girlfriend.
"There no dogs and maybe they eat of all them?" he said.
"There's no internet, there's no way of contacting anybody.
"It's like going to another planet."
He also had some praise for Kim Jong-Un, the chubby dictator who took power from his father.
"It's funny that the family leading this country with such prestige and worship nationwide, started from such humble beginnings of being rebel freedom fighters against the Japanese," he added.
"This is the most fascinating travel experiences I've ever had."
In a statement, a spokeswoman for Louis said "the videos were in no way paid for, commissioned or influenced by any political or government body".
The spokeswoman said: "Louis' videos are an extension of himself, capturing his personal views and experiences of the people, cultures and places he visits.
"Rather than taking a journalistic approach, Louis chooses to focus on the positive aspects of his adventures. This is fuelled by his belief that there is beauty to be found wherever one might go, for those who are adventurous enough to look for it.
"The purpose of this trip was to join a team of volunteers in teaching local tour guides and children how to surf and skateboard, as part of an annual surf camp which first launched in 2014.
"Louis saw this as a unique opportunity to be immersed in the culture. His goal was to help, and to connect with, local North Koreans in a meaningful way.
"It was not his intention to gloss over or dismiss any negative issues that plague the country, and he apologizes if his vlogs came across that way."
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