North Korean citizens are among those who watch the Premier League around the world; however, for a very specific reason, football fans in North Korea are not permitted to watch three English top flight teams compete in the Premier League.
There are hundreds of millions of people who tune in to watch the twenty teams that compete in the Premier League compete against each other throughout the course of a season. The English top flight is a product that is sold all over the world.
This includes the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, also known as North Korea, which is ruled by Kim Jong Un, a dictator who succeeded his father Kim Jong Il shortly after the latter’s passing in 2011.
After the Korean War, which began in 1950, Korea was split into two distinct parts: the communist North and the democratic South. Both of these parts were separated from one another.
It was in 1953 when the country was divided in half at the 38th parallel that an armistice was reached. Since then, the Korean Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) has been in place, and the armies of both Korean nations have been patrolling and guarding it.
In spite of the fact that an armistice was reached, there has been no formal peace treaty that has followed the ceasefire agreement. Border incidents that have occurred in the decades that have followed these incidents highlight the ongoing tension that exists between the two countries.
There have only been two occasions in which the North Korean national football team has made it to the finals of the World Cup. The best result that they have achieved is in 1966, when they won the quarterfinals.
The South Korean national football team, on the other hand, has achieved greater success on the international stage, as evidenced by the fact that they have made it to the finals of the World Cup eleven times.
In addition to this, South Korea finished in fourth place at the World Cup in 2002, which the country co-hosted with Japan, its neighbouring country.
According to the information that has come to light, the presence of South Korean players competing in the Premier League has resulted in certain teams being prohibited from being broadcast on North Korean state television (KCTV).
According to a report that was cited by the Daily Mirror, the 38 North project of the Stimson Centre in Washington, which is located in Washington, suggests that South Korean players who are playing for Premier League teams are not shown in North Korea.
Because of the presence of Son Heung-Min, Hwang Hee-Chan, and Kim Ji-Soo for Tottenham Hotspur, Wolves, and Brentford, respectively, matches between those three teams are not permitted to take place in North Korea.
Games are shown in North Korea four months after they are played, which means that games that were played at the beginning of this season in August were actually only broadcast in January.
Sport is “one of the few moments each day when state TV is not trying to send an overt or underlying message to its viewers,” according to the 38 North Project report. This is despite the fact that North Korean television is filled with propaganda.
“There wasn’t really any intention to the research other than the fact that we thought it was interesting,” said senior fellow Martyn Williams. We just finished watching a game of football on KCTV. The most important international sport that they broadcast is this one.
