North Korea has had its ups and downs with YouTube over the last decade. First, YouTube banned the DPRK’s state-run propaganda channel — then just a few days later, the channel popped up again. North Korea’s YouTube was subsequently deactivated and resurrected once more.

But truth be told, these YouTube channels barely had an audience to begin with. The clumsy, outdated rhetoric repelled its modern audience, with whom video game streaming and children’s programming rank best. Meanwhile, North Korea’s YouTube audience seems to be nostalgic defectors and professional researchers.

It’s a complete mystery why the DPRK’s foreign propaganda would be