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 an American investor @JimmyDushku.
Asawin Suebsaeng of Mother Jones reached out to Dushku, a 25-year-old independently wealthy investor from Austin, Texas, to ask the obvious question — why the hell does North Korea follow you on Twitter?
Dushku doesn't have much of an answer. "People always ask me how it happened, and I honestly can't remember," he told Suebsaeng. "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."
Dushku believes he may have won over the North Korean's when they first joined Twitter, tweeting them a greeting in Korean. He has no other personal links to the country, he claims.
Being followed by one of the world's strictest dictatorships isn't all good. Dushku tells Suebsaeng that he has had a variety of angry emails, even threats, over the years from people suspicious about his relationship with the country.
On the plus side, he claims to have a standing offer from North Korean officials to visit their country.
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