North Korea Wants To Watch Teletubbies

North Korea has been in months long negotiations with the BBC over which programs they might broadcast.  Among the favorites: Top Gear,  Dr. Who and Teletubbies as they are considered non political.  

Given that North Korea tightly controls what's broadcast on Korean Central Television how will this comport with their overarching desire to control the flow of information to its populace?  Also its a crime to view such programing in North Korea.  What are going to do? Broadcast the programs then promptly imprison the population in its wide network of prison camps.

 

"Extensive enquiries have been made about what these three shows involve and if they would be suitable for the [North] Korean people," a Pyongyang insider explained. "Anything too political was not suitable but these are entertainment shows, and one of them is for young children."

The decision follows a BBC initiative last year, supported by the Foreign Office, to draw up a list of programmes that the North Koreans might consider obtaining. At the time, the Foreign Secretary William Hague hailed it as "a good way to improve understanding about the outside world within such a closed society".

  

This what happens when one runs afoul of the law in North Korea for watching or possessing these materials.

 The watching of non-sanctioned programmes is harshly punished. Eighty people were reportedly shot recently for crimes that included being caught with pirated copies of South Korean programmes. Such penalties have failed to dampen demand, however, perhaps explaining the regime's willingness to consider foreign exports and so make its own channels more popular. Many North Koreans store foreign programmes on USB sticks, which can be pulled out and hidden from police if required.