Unprecedented situation! Kim Jong Un has allowed Premier League broadcasts in North Korea, but under his own rules

Soccer, at least in a limited form, will finally reach the north of the Korean Peninsula.

Matches will last 60 minutes and will be broadcast after thorough editing

According to The Guardian, the matches will not be broadcast live, but will be broadcast afterwards, after detailed editing. During the editing process, any frame that, in the opinion of the authorities, “does not meet state standards” will be removed or modified. Recordings of South Korean footballers will be completely excluded, including appearances by Kim Ji-su (Brentford) and Hwang Hee-chan (Wolves).

The duration of each match will also be shortened from 90 to 60 minutes, meaning viewers in North Korea will watch edited versions of the games. State television will additionally cover all English language inscriptions and graphics that appear in the recording, replacing them with local markings and symbols. Another measure involves deleting all scenes featuring LGBTQ+ symbols, including rainbow flags and any messages supporting equality or inclusion.

Although the decision to broadcast the Premier League can be interpreted as an attempt by Pyongyang to “open” cultural windows to the Western world, the series of restrictions makes it clear that football in the North will remain strictly filtered, in line with the regime's propaganda and ideological control.

It would not be the first time that edited matches have been broadcast in North Korea. At the 2010 World Cup, a tournament in which the Asian country was qualified, state television broadcast an edited version of the matches.

North Korea at the 2010 World Cup / Imago Images