A censorship like no other. If most television channels around the world have the habit of blurring images that could offend viewers' sensibilities, North Korean public television has many other instructions.
While it is very rare to broadcast Western programs on television in North Korea, the show “Garden Secrets”, presented by gardening journalist Alan Titchmarsh, is an exception. As the Guardian points out, the presenter's “calm attitude” and “healthy vocation” have earned him the affection of one of the most authoritarian regimes on the planet, to the point of broadcasting his program since 2022.
Except that since no one is perfect, Alan Titchmarsh wears jeans... which seems to pose a big problem on North Korean public television. In an episode aired by Central TV on Monday, the presenter can be seen wearing a checkered shirt with fully blurred jeans.
“It gives me a little
street cred
”
The reason ? Jeans are considered a symbol of American imperialism and have therefore been banned since the early 1990s. This censorship is part of Pyongyang's broader campaign to protect the North Korean people from the "nefarious" influence of the Western culture, launched during the regime of former leader Kim Jong-il, father of current leader Kim Jong-un.
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In addition to offering a show with a half-blurred presenter, the state TV channel also edits 15 minutes of each episode, dubs Alan Titchmarsh's voice with those of North Korean narrators and adds a soundtrack of instrumental music, according to the American site specializing in North Korea NK News.
Informed of this censorship, the presenter made ironic remarks about the situation to the BBC. “I never saw myself as a dangerous and subversive imperialist. I
'm
generally seen as a gentle and fairly harmless person, so that gives me a bit of
street cred
,
doesn't it? ".
For several years, Kim Jong-un's regime has repressed so-called "capitalist" fashion and hairstyles, particularly targeting skinny jeans, T-shirts with foreign inscriptions, as well as dyed or long hair.