North Korea Explodes Over ‘Stupid’ Copyright Claims: Did They Steal South Korean Footage?

In response to accusations from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) that North Korea illegally used video footage of the recent demolition along the East Sea route, Kim Yo Jong, Deputy Director of the Workers’ Party of Korea, expressed outrage.

On Friday, in a commentary titled “Do Not Spout Absurd Remarks,” Kim Yo Jong criticized the JCS, particularly the head of its information office, for raising concerns about “copyright” during a regular briefing on Thursday. The JCS had claimed that North Korea used footage captured by South Korea to document the destruction of roads and railways along the border. Kim called the JCS’s comments “stupidity,” arguing that the issue was irrelevant to the broader situation.

Kim Yo Jong acknowledged that one of the photos released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) was similar to footage taken by South Korean surveillance equipment, but she asserted that the image in question was a screenshot from video clips aired by foreign media outlets such as NBC, Fox News, and Reuters.

She also questioned South Korea’s position on copyright, pointing out that South Korean media frequently uses photos and video clips from KCNA in their reporting. “Hasn’t the ROK used the photos and video clips the Korean Central News Agency released when airing the news about us? Then a question arises as to whether the ROK thought about a violation of international law and copyright when reporting the news about us with our photos and video clips,” Kim stated.

North Korea released a total of three photos, one of which shows the demolition along the East Sea, and analysis suggests it closely resembles a scene captured by the JCS’s surveillance equipment at the time of the explosion.

During a regular briefing, JCS spokesperson Lee Sung Jun acknowledged that South Korea was investigating the possibility that North Korea used the footage without permission. This suggests that the North may not have been able to capture the demolition properly on its own and resorted to using South Korean material.