Thursday, April 4, 2013

Follow These 10 Twitter Accounts for North Korea News

NkLorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai2013-03-29 17:08:41 -0400

Tension across the Korean peninsula is rising: bellicose rhetoric coming from the North has gotten increasingly menacing and South Korea, along with the United States, hasn't backed down.

The American military conducted Thursday a test along with the South Korean army, flying B-2 stealth bombers and carrying out mock bombing exercises. The United States' drills were intended to show North Korea that they're ready to support South Korea in case of war. Friday, North Korea announced Kim Jong-un has ordered its missile units to be ready to strike.

In this period of heightened tension, it's helpful to have quick and insightful sources of information about the situation on the Korean peninsula. Here at Mashable, we rounded up what we think are the 10 best people for you to follow on Twitter.

Herman is the Seoul bureau chief for Voice of America. After being based in Japan for many years, he now covers the Korean Peninsula for the the federally-funded broadcast channel. Herman is a prolific Twitter user, with more than 20,000 tweets recorded, and he's a great source for constant updates coming out of North and South Korea.

Lee is another great go-to source. She is the Associated Press bureau chief in Seoul and she is also one of the few western journalists to ever visit North Korea. In a February visit, she became probably the first person to ever send a mobile tweet from the tech-isolated country. She also snapped a few Instagrams directly from Pyongyang.

For more Instagram pictures coming out of North Korea, don't miss David Guttenfelder's account. The AP's chief photographer in Asia, he is currently on assignment in North Korea.

As a lecturer in Asian History at Queen's University Belfast in the UK and the chief editor of Sino-NK, a blog devoted to analyzing and reporting on the relationship between China and North Korea, Cathcart is an authoritative voice. He is also an extremely prolific Twitter user, so he's good for multiple updates throughout the day.

Gale is the Korea bureau chief for Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal. While Gale doesn't tweet as much as others, he shares a lot of news stories, so he's a good follow if you're looking for a curated stream of stories about the Korean conflict.

Foster-Carter is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Sociology and Modern Korea at Leeds University, and he is also a skeptic. In a column he wrote forThe Guardian on Friday, he questioned the likelihood of a real war and a subsequent nuclear Armageddon.

"Are they serious? Do they mean it? Could a Korean Armageddon really happen? My one-word answer would be no." he wrote.

His Twitter feed is good if you're looking for opinion, analysis and a healthy dose of skepticism.

Snyder is another authoritative voice when it comes to the two Koreas. He is a Senior Fellow for Korea Studies at the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations, where he regularly writes about North and South Korea. On Friday he wrote a column for CNN titled "Why North Korea is Scary," although he was quick to point out that he did not write the headline.

He's not a very active Twitter user, but his expertise makes it worth following him and reading his posts and columns.

If you're looking for an source of information who isn't afraid to be critical of the United States, Breuker, a professor of Korean studies and historian at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, is the Twitter user you're looking for. He is an expert and doesn't bite his tongue when it comes to criticizing the stance of the U.S. government in the conflict.

Yoon is a South Korean native reporter based in Seoul, where she covers North and South Korea for Bloomberg. Her Twitter feed is good for the latest news of the conflict and get a curated stream of information — especially if you're looking for somebody who will limit her tweets to just the most important stories.

Fisher is not a Korean correspondent nor is he based in Seoul, but as the Washington Post's foreign affairs blogger, he is a must follow for his constant and often funny coverage of the most important international stories of the moment. A perfect example is his recent blog post explaining, in a snarky tone, why he got called out by the North Korean state media.

"The Post covered long-running reports that North Korea is using its diplomats as drug dealers, therefore North Korea needs more nuclear weapons. I’m not sure I see their case but, as a member of the lackey reptile media shock brigade, I don’t suppose I would," he wrote.

According to his personal website, Ferris has been Chief Mate on U.S.-flagged oceanographic research ships, and in early 2013 he became a minority owner and guide of Young Pioneer Tours, a company that organizes tourist trips in North Korea. Ferris is not an authoritative voice, like some of the other accounts we listed here, but he's been to North Korea and he offers an independent perspective.

He also has an Instagram account featuring pictures taken inside the country.

Who are your favorite North Korea follows? Share in the comments below.

Image via iStockphoto, alexkuehni

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