North Korea to air Premier League matches for first time, under extremely strict conditions
North Korea has agreed to broadcast English Premier League (EPL) matches for the first time, but the coverage will be significantly altered to meet the country’s rigid ideological controls.
The development, reported by outlets including The Guardian and the specialist site 38 North, marks a rare opening in the isolated nation’s media landscape, though one tightly curated by state censors.
Under the guidelines reportedly issued to Korean Central Television (KCTV), the matches aired in North Korea will bear little resemblance to international broadcasts. No games will be shown live, with one match from the current season reportedly screened 150 days after it was played. Each 90-minute fixture will be cut down to a 60-minute highlights package, removing extended sequences of play.
All English-language stadium signage and advertising will be blurred or replaced with state-approved graphics.
Matches involving South Korean players, including stars such as Hwang Hee-chan and Kim Ji-soo will be excluded entirely, in line with Pyongyang’s escalating hostility toward Seoul. Any LGBTQ+ symbols, such as rainbow badges or corner flags, will also be removed from the footage.
How North Korea is obtaining Premier League material remains unclear. The country has no broadcasting rights agreement with the league, making the airing of matches a likely violation of copyright rules and possibly international sanctions. As The Guardian notes, “how KCTV gets the footage is a mystery.”
The state broadcaster handled the 2022 World Cup in a similar way delaying matches, altering graphics, and declining to show South Korea’s group-stage games.
For North Korean football fans, the broadcasts offer a rare glimpse of the world’s most popular league but only after it has been reframed to fit the state’s political worldview.