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Hackers Celebrate Kim Jong-Un's Birthday With Video

A website and Twitter account believed to be North Korea's state-sanctioned channels of communication have been hacked to show derogatory content on the birthday of North Korea's heir apparent.

A string of messages appeared on North Korea's Twitter account, calling North Koreans to rise up against leader Kim Jong-Il and his son, whom it referred to as the "sworn enemy."

Earlier, a two-minute animation had appeared on the communist state's YouTube account. It depicts the heir-apparent Kim Jong-Un teasing his father to buy him expensive birthday presents, then driving an expensive sports car into starving North Koreans.

South Korean hackers have claimed responsibility for the attack. It's unlikely to be seen by many North Koreans, since Internet usage is heavily circumscribed inside the North. But it is embarrassing, as it coincides with Kim Jong-Un's birthday.

So little is known about Kim Jong-Un outside North Korea, it's not even clear whether he is now 28 or 29.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Beijing Correspondent Louisa Lim is currently attending the University of Michigan as a Knight-Wallace Fellow. She will return to her regular role in 2014.