North Korean state television is broadcasting its first-ever South Korean soccer game – the Seoul team’s 4-1 win over Brazil
North Korean state media broadcast South Korea’s World Cup campaign for the first time this week.
The home crowd watched Wednesday’s round of 16 match, two days after it took place at the 974 Stadium in Doha, where Brazil defeated the Republic of Korea (ROK) national team 4-1.
The program even named the ROK players at the beginning of the game, which is unusual as the country tends not to show games in which a South Korean national plays.
Korean Central Television (KCTV) is managed by the state of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
North Korean state media broadcast South Korea’s World Cup campaign for audiences for the first time this week. Pictured: South Korea’s players before Monday’s game
The channel has shown most of this year’s World Cup games, but South Korea’s games stayed away until the unusual broadcast of Monday’s game on Wednesday
The channel usually broadcasts international sporting events, which is a rare opportunity for citizens to see what’s happening in the rest of the world.
So far, the broadcaster has shown most of this year’s World Cup games, but South Korea’s games stayed away until Wednesday.
Stimson Center colleague Martyn Williams said that KCTV was actively showing all other games, despite a day or two delay.
“It’s obviously no coincidence that the one South Korean game shown is the one that knocked them out of the World Cup.
“It just shows pettiness, but unfortunately that’s not uncommon,” he told NK News.
It was an unusual broadcast by KCTV on Wednesday as local viewers were able to see uncensored commercials shown at 974 Stadium. Pictured: Brazil’s Neymar during the World Cup Round of 16 match against South Korea
KCTV broadcasts international sporting events, which is a rare opportunity for citizens to see what’s happening in the rest of the world. Pictured: South Korea’s Paik Seung-ho celebrates after scoring his side’s opening goal
So far, many South Korean and Japanese football matches have not been shown, including those from the 2014 and 2018 World Cups.
Also unusual during Monday’s game was the fact that advertising was not censored by the state, meaning North Korean viewers could see ads for Coca-Cola and other Western consumer brands.
According to FIFA, the DPRK is showing a feed from South Korean networks whose logos were already defaced for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
At the start of this year’s tournament, KCTV defaced the external broadcaster’s logo and graphics, but no effort has been made to censor them during recent matches.