North Korea’s state-run television has begun streaming its first Olympic TV broadcast nine days after the opening of the Paris Olympics.
According to South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, on Tuesday, Korean Central Television (KCTV) aired a 50-minute recorded broadcast of the table tennis mixed doubles round of 16 match between North Korea and Japan, which was held last Sunday. The next day, it also aired a 35-minute broadcast of the women’s 10m platform synchronized diving competition.
On July 26, North Korea briefly reported on the opening of the Olympics and medal wins through the state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun. However, this appears to be North Korea’s first aired footage.
The table tennis and diving events aired on TV are sports in which North Korea had already secured medals during the Olympics. On July 30,
North Korean table tennis duo Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong brought home silver in the mixed doubles event. Meanwhile, Jo Jin Mi and Kim Mi Rae also won silver medals in the women’s synchronized 10m platform event.
Notably, North Korea opted to broadcast its Round of 16 match against Japan rather than the finals, where it lost to China. This decision was perceived as an attempt to highlight its victory over the world’s No. 2 ranked team.
The anchor said, “Our pair, Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Young, are ranked 16th globally, while the Japanese duo is ranked 2nd.”
North Korea’s reluctance to broadcast live matches stems from its lack of broadcast rights. Historically, South Korean broadcasters who held the “Korean Peninsula broadcast rights” extended these rights to North Korea on humanitarian grounds. However, securing this support has become increasingly challenging amid rising tensions with North Korea.
Recently, North Korea has resorted to “pirate broadcasting,” repurposing footage from other countries. For instance, Olympic news footage from North Korea displayed blurred scoreboards in the upper left corner. They replaced these with their own scoreboards in Korean at the bottom center, obscuring the original broadcaster’s identity.
On Sunday, KCTV aired a 10-minute “International Sports News” segment summarizing major Olympic events, including handball, tennis, women’s soccer, and men’s soccer. Notably, the segment excluded footage of South Korean athletes.
This exclusion aligns with North Korea’s pattern of omitting South Korean athletes from international sports coverage, reflecting their current stance of viewing South Korea as a “hostile nation.”
Last October, KCTV expressed hostility by labeling South Korea a “puppet” while reporting on the women’s soccer match between North and South Korea at the Hangzhou Asian Games in China. North Korean athletes at the Paris Olympics have also been observed ignoring questions from South Korean media and avoiding interactions with South Korean athletes.
