People caught in North Korea watching South Korean TV can still face punishment by public execution. However, recently, viewers in the country have been able to watch some realistic TV shows on their local channels.
A new 22-episode series called A New Spring in Paehaek Plain (also called A New Spring In The Field Of Manchurian Cranes) aired from April 16 to June 24 of this year, and depicted the real lives of Korean people facing corruption, food scarcity, and bureaucracy.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the TV series, which drastically departs from the usual propagandistic utopian fare, was devised by North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-un, since he realized that North Korean viewers did not believe the official narratives, and hoping that more realistic shows would strengthen Kim’s legitimacy with his people.
Reportedly, Kim is using TV to encourage people to engage with domestic content while at the same time apologizing for the food shortage and chastising officials for recurrent domestic issues
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