CNN Attacked On Social Media For Coverage of Kim Yo Jong, North Korean Leader’s Sister
A social media backlash has started over the glamorizing of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, who became the first member of the north’s ruling family to visit the south in 65 years during the Winter Olympics.
CNN bore the brunt of the attacks. The news network published a story claiming Kim Yo Jong was “stealing the show at the Winter Olympics.” But other news organizations also praised Kim Yo Jong, who maintained a placid and demure smile during most of her public appearances, and seemed to charm her hosts.
The documented brutality of the North Korean regime was the focus of the online complaints, with most commenters accusing media of overlooking the human rights violations in North Korea during their coverage of the visit. Kim Yo Jong departed South Korea today, but has already issued an invitation to South Korean leaders to visit Pyongyang for talks on the peninsula’s future.
Kim Jong-Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong helps him:
•Starve his people
•Keep 24 million North Koreans living in extreme poverty
•Stop free speech
•Murder innocent men, women & children indiscriminately
•Put people in concentration campsKim Yo Jong deserves scorn, not praise
— Evan Siegfried (@evansiegfried) February 11, 2018
Kim YO Jong, Lil Sis of Lil Kim, is "stealing show" according to CNN. She's probably stealing food and electricity to take back to her starving and sitting w/o lights people. CNN has no shame or awareness of NOKO human rights abuses.
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) February 11, 2018
Other news organizations have been equally effusive in coverage.
If North Korea is on a charm offensive with South Korea, Kim Yo Jong is the perfect charmer. https://t.co/bBcXjPYsxV
— Anna Fifield (@annafifield) February 9, 2018
Alyssa Farah, a spokeswoman for Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the US delegation to the Winter Olympics, also complained about the soft coverage. She recalled the death of Otto Warmbier, a US college student who died last year after being held prisoner for more than a year and a half in North Korea.
“Speaking of stealing, Otto Warmbier was tortured & killed at the hands of the Kim regime after being accused of stealing a poster,” she wrote, referencing the CNN story’s headline. “Let’s not whitewash North Korea’s record.”
Speaking of stealing, Otto Warmbier was tortured & killed at the hands of the Kim regime after being accused of stealing a poster. Let’s not whitewash North Korea’s record https://t.co/ST8QwhImMD
— Alyssa Farah (@VPPressSec) February 10, 2018
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