North Korea's tentative steps into the online world are always a little mysterious — the strange choices in the videos uploaded to YouTube, for example, or the 2013 website redesign that made the country's official news organization look like it was a relic from 2003.
One perplexing detail of the country's official Twitter account (@uriminzok), is that it currently follows just three accounts — and one of them is for Coldplayer @JimmyDushku, otherwise known as JimmyD on our forums.
Jimmy Dushku, an investor from Austin who also loves Jammie Dodger biscuits, has revealed he received death threats after fellow Twitter users discovered his unlikely link to the dictatorship. Some have accused him of sympathising with Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, or even of being a spy. Jimmy has more than 2,000 followers on the social network. For reasons no one has established, they include @uriminzok ("our nation"), North Korea's official government account, which itself has tweeted almost 6000 messages.
So why does North Korea seem to be so keenly interested in a 25-year-old investor from Austin, Texas? "People always ask me how it happened, and I honestly can't remember. It started sometime back in 2010. I was initially surprised, but I always try to make friends with people from all different locations and backgrounds," Mr Dushku told the Mother Jones website a while back. He said he followed their account in return "out of courtesy", later sending it a public message saying "have a nice day, my friend" in Korean.
Mr Dushku's Twitter profile describes him as "just a young guy trying to make the world a better place." A former teenage web developer, Mr Dushku has since built up an investment portfolio that includes property and construction in Texas as well as Peru and Brazil. He is best known online for his love of Coldplay. The investor has also posted a photograph of himself playing golf with the actor Dennis Quaid. More recently, Jimmy even arranged a Not-So-Secret Santa in November on Coldplaying where he gave away one of Chris Martin's picks as a free gift.
Jimmy Dushku with Coldplay's Phil Harvey in June 2012
Death threats appear not to concern Mr Dushku. He claims to have been invited to the country and said he wants to go there to see the Arirang Festival, an annual celebration of synchronised pomp that honours the state's military. "I have been very interested in the country, from a historical point of view, for many years now," he told Mother Jones. "Behind all of the headlines you see on the news, there are people who live there."
Due to a number of political, economic and security concerns, the relationship between the U.S. and North Korea has long been strained. According to a 2012 AP report, North Koreans are said to be taught from a young age to "hate" Americans; while in the U.S., a 2011 Gallup poll revealed that 84 percent of Americans had an "unfavorable" view of North Korea. Though it is now possible for Americans to visit North Korea at any time of year, the U.S. State Department warns that travel to the country is "not routine" for Americans, and that it may be difficult to obtain the proper documentation needed to enter the country.
By now, North Korea's social media eccentricities are pretty much par for the course. The country's official YouTube channel is known to post kooky collections of videos, including clips of Kim Jong Un looking at fish and meat in a supermarket and clips of seemingly empty stores, amusement parks and bowling alleys.
North Korea threatened to launch nuclear strikes against the US and South Korea in response to fresh UN sanctions adopted after the North carried out its third nuclear test last month. While the threats have been mostly dismissed as bluster, there are concerns that the North will attempt some form of military provocation in the coming weeks.
Jimmy Dushku... can you add 'diplomat' to your illustrious international CV...?
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