James Crisp Europe Editor. Nicola Smith Asia Correspondent, in Taiwan. Matthew Day in Warsaw
Soap opera fans tired of Netflix can now tune in to the best dramas from the hermit kingdom of North Korea.
For as little as £16 a month, subscribers can now binge watch the dictatorship’s unique brand of earnest singing, marching soldiers and weeping newscasters.
Shiwani TV will broadcast state-run Korean Central TV and its radio station anywhere in the world from the second half of the year.
Among the content available are soaps about soldiers weeding out disloyal class enemies and sitcoms from gleaming Pyongyang apartments.
And there are also plans for an app for users to have all the latest news and gossip about Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader, beamed directly to their smartphones.
The spread of North Korean propaganda is in stark contrast to the dire state of the country’s economy.
Some Covid-era restrictions remain in place and borders are closed, prompting Britain to send inspection teams in recent weeks to its embassy shuttered since the pandemic
Meanwhile, North Korea has been ramping up weapons tests and threatening war with the South, while moving closer to Russia’s orbit.
Korean Central TV, North Korea’s only legally accessible channel, shows a steady stream of missile launches, military parades and bad news about everywhere which isn’t North Korea.
The new venture is the brainchild of the Chollima Front, which describes itself as an independent initiative of friendship between Poland and North Korea.
Chollima Front’s website says it aims to understand North Korea “and its culture… and to make verified information about the country available in the public space”.
The service will be made available worldwide, including in the United States and South Korea, where it could breach national security laws and be illegal to access.
The channel said it will not pay fees to North Korea or have any contractual arrangement with the secretive Communist state. The North Korean embassy in Warsaw is reported to be supportive of the plan.
The channel “operates within the laws of Poland, Canada and Germany, and also respects certain relevant North Korean laws,” a spokesman told The Telegraph.
He said there were no subscribers yet because the service had not yet been launched.
“But I can gladly say that it is untrue to suggest that no one is interested,” he added.
“Currently we have around 50 people that have requested to be informed when registration will be opened. These people are from all over the world, mainly Poland, the USA, Japan, the UK and South Korea.”
Viewers looking to swap Celebrity Big Brother for a taste of the real thing can look forward to the emotional commentary provided by Ri Chun Hee, a veteran newsreader, at moments of historical significance.
There’s Our Neighbours, a sitcom centred around a modern and shiny apartment building in Pyongyang with the heartfelt message that those loyal to the regime will be rewarded with fashionable clothes and household appliances.
Young Researchers follows a group of schoolchildren who use laptop computers and other advanced technology, including drones, to solve problems in the reclusive rogue state.
Sport fans will be able to sample censored footage of world-famous events like Wimbledon, many months after they have been held.
North Korean soap operas tell stirring stories of heroic soldiers and workers devoting themselves to the party and rooting out class enemies and now even include adverts.
Dramas describe a protagonist’s gradual realisation of his duties towards the state or discover they are orphans, raised by the party.
In these tearjerkers, a character’s “mother” has bravely looked after him at great sacrifice, even foregoing the chance to get married, in adherence to the North Korean theory of the “Socialist Grand Family”.
When The Telegraph tuned in to the state broadcaster, there was a lot of singing and soldiers staring meaningfully into the distance.
There was also footage of fields, hopeful children and skyscrapers and trains, despite reports that North Korea is once again facing food shortages.
The new service could fill the gap left after two state-run North Korean websites were shut down in January.
As for the Chollima Front, it is reported to only have about 12 members, mostly Poles, but also Germans and Canadians.
“Chollima Front is a very small organisation whose members are a few young Polish people with communist political views,” a Polish North Korea and East Asia studies scholar, who requested anonymity, told Radio Free Asia.
“No one in Poland is interested in North Korean culture, especially in comparison to South Korean culture,” he said.
