North Korea Poaches World Cup


June 21, 2002


MIKE PESCA: The rights to broadcast the 2002 World Cup cost television networks millions, or depending on the strength of the currency, billions. But whether you count in dollars or Turkish lira, the country of North Korea still paid nothing. While its neighbor to the south plays co-host to the world's most popular sporting event, North Korea did not even acknowledge that it was taking place until North Korean Central Television began broadcasting World Cup games -- illegally. The BBC's Caroline Gluck joins us now from Seoul, South Korea. Caroline, North Korea surprised a lot of people by broadcasting matches from the World Cup. How many games have they shown there?

CAROLINE GLUCK: Hard to say. They are not broadcasting the shows contemporaneously. There seems to be a day or two delay. What is quite interesting is the selectivity in the way they've decided which matches will get shown. It appears that matches that have involved the United States, South Korea or Japan playing have not been rebroadcast in North Korea, although there's little the authorities can do to airbrush out this very distinct logo showing that the matches are taking place in South Korea and in Japan.

MIKE PESCA: And what about the logos that ring the stadiums of all the advertisements - signs for Toshiba or JVC?

CAROLINE GLUCK:Yes, or even Hyundai, a South Korea company. Again, you know they are, [LAUGHS] they're very prominent, so kind of tantalizing glimpses for some North Koreans lucky enough to own a television or get access to a television broad to see some of these soccer matches.

MIKE PESCA: The South Koreans think that this might change the political situation with the North? What's been the South Korean reaction?

CAROLINE GLUCK: I think people are happy and quite positive about the fact that-- the north has been showing these matches. The feeling is that it's another sign that this reclusive state is reaching out - is letting its people become more aware of events outside this very closed, reclusive Communist society. But I don't think anyone has illusions -- football or even showing football in North Korea isn't going to transform society overnight. But it's part of a very long, slow, ongoing process.

MIKE PESCA: What's FIFA's reaction been?

CAROLINE GLUCK:The company, the broadcast company that holds the, the rebroadcasting rights is a German company, Kirch. Now ordinarily they take a very strict line on unauthorized broadcasts of World Cup matches, and they charge very hefty fees for, for screening of matches. However when it came to their notice after reports came out from Pyongyang that North Koreans were seeing some of these matches, it took quite a conciliatory line. They made very clear that they didn't condone unauthorized broadcasting of the World Cup but felt very much that it was an instance where football could help bring countries including estranged countries closer together into this global sporting community. I think the issue with North Korea is that it is a very poor country; it's a country that has difficulty feeding its own people. So I think even if they were given the opportunity to legally screen some of these matches, I think it would be a problem costwise with the authorities being able to cough up enough money to, to legally show some of the matches.

MIKE PESCA: Can you explain what's normally on North Korean television?

CAROLINE GLUCK:It's very dry and often turgid broadcasting. Quite often you will see army brass bands giving concerts or you will see a reporter out in the countryside interviewing a model farmer or workers in a, a mine or some kind of industrial sector. That rather dry material is sometimes interspersed with some quite fun cartoons that are directed towards children, but again as, as all the media is in North Korea -everything has a propaganda purpose, so even, you know, what might be regarded as quite innocuous children's cartoons have political messages. Animal figures that might be regarded as representations of the United States and you know the innocent raccoon or squirrel figure overcoming and, and winning out at the end, it always seems to be the underdog, the small underdog winning out over this large gi--giant who's trying to impose his will on a smaller state or a smaller animal.

MIKE PESCA: And who knows, maybe the way the North Koreans present it in the finals, the Brazilians will lose to a team of earnest raccoons. [LAUGHTER]

CAROLINE GLUCK: That's possible.

MIKE PESCA: Well, Caroline Gluck, thank you very much.

CAROLINE GLUCK: You're welcome.

MIKE PESCA: Caroline Gluck is the BBC's correspondent in Seoul, South Korea.

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