North Korea ‘Blur Out’ PSG Player Competing at Club World Cup

Pyongyang’s Korean Central Television bizarrely blurred the moment one of Paris Saint-Germain’s players scored during its delayed broadcast of the revamped Club World Cup. The game between Champions League holders and Spanish side Atletico Madrid was aired five days after it was played at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Los Angeles last Sunday.

Les Parisiens cruised to a dominant 4-0 victory in their opener, continuing their charge to establish themselves as Europe’s next footballing powerhouse. But in North Korea’s dystopian reality – where access to outside information is heavily restricted – state broadcasters retain full control over the narrative, even when it comes to international sport.

One remarkable example of this totalitarian media control came in 2010, when many North Koreans were led to believe Portugal had won the World Cup, not Spain. The ploy is to boost the regime’s sporting image by suggesting North Korea were eliminated by the eventual “champions.” Now, it seems the regime isn’t just rewriting history, but it’s actively erasing any moments that might cast its southern neighbor in a positive limelight.

Related

North Koreans ‘Believe’ Portugal Won 2010 World Cup, Not Spain – Here’s Why

North Korea are so cut off from the rest of the world that they had no idea Spain won the World Cup in 2010.

Pyongyang’s leaders don’t want to show the success of South Korean athletes to the public

In the 97th minute, with PSG leading 3-0, a handball by an Atletico defender resulted in a penalty, with which Lee Kang-in claimed his first goal of the tournament. Pyongyang’s broadcaster blurred the South Korean international’s number and face during the shot, briefly explaining that PSG had won, without mentioning who had scored. See the incident below:

Korean Central Television typically airs sports games an hour or two before its 5 p.m. news broadcast. While it regularly televises Premier League and Champions League matches played in Europe, it often omits fixtures featuring South Korean stars like Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur, Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Lee Kang-in.

With the regime’s ruling Workers’ Party controlling all televised content, it’s clear that Pyongyang’s authorities are intent on shielding the public from the achievements of South Korean athletes. This feeds into North Korea’s dystopian propaganda machine – one that not only keeps the country a mystery to the outside world, but also ensures that the outside world remains a mystery to its own people.

KCTV’s censorship doesn’t stop at player appearances. During the 2022 World Cup and last year’s AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup, the broadcaster pixelated the South Korean flag and referred to their team as the “puppet South Korean squad,” further underscoring the regime’s obsession with narrative control.