North Korea's Cultural Censorship and the Lee Kang-in Mosaic Incident

The difference between Lee Kang-in and North Korean broadcasts

In June 2025, Lee Kang-in's goal scene with Paris Saint-Germain left a deep impression on football fans worldwide. However, the same scene was broadcast in a completely different manner in North Korea. Korean Central TV pixelated Lee's face and jersey number, and even omitted his name. Only a brief description stating "Paris Saint-Germain defeated Atletico Madrid 4-0" filled the screen. This was not just a simple editing choice, but rather the result of thorough cultural censorship reflecting political intentions. This incident starkly illustrates how tightly North Korea maintains cultural control and perceives the influence of Hallyu as a threat to its regime.

Case Overview: The Truth Hidden Behind the Mosaic

On June 20, 2025, Korean Central TV broadcasted a FIFA Club World Cup match between France's Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Spain's Atletico Madrid. Lee Kang-in scored successfully with a penalty kick, contributing to the team’s 4-0 victory. However, in the North Korean broadcast, footage of Lee Kang-in's goal was blurred, and his face and jersey number were obscured with a mosaic. His name was not mentioned, and key moments of the match were edited out. This was not simply a case of omitting lengthy footage, but a clear instance of intentional editing. The broadcast conveyed only the match result without acknowledging the goalscorer, and even the moment of Lee Kang-in's goal was obscured. This action is seen as a denial of Lee Kang-in's existence and symbolically represents the North Korean authorities' strict cultural censorship.

Repeated Censorship of Korean Athletes: Sports is Politics Too

The case of Lee Kang-in is just one more example of how North Korea perceives South Korean athletes. In the past, North Korea has thoroughly excluded or significantly downplayed game footage of South Korean players like Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan, who are active on the world stage. Specifically, during the 2022 Qatar World Cup, North Korea mosaic-ed the Taegeukgi in scenes of the South Korean national team’s matches, and omitted player rosters and performances. Additionally, in the 2024 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup, they blurred the Taegeuk design on the uniforms of the South Korean women's team or edited it out of the broadcast. Scoring moments of the South Korean team were obscured, and player names were not mentioned. In this manner, North Korea determines broadcast content based on strict political criteria, maintaining a strong blocking policy regarding South Korean information. This reflects a systematic intent to negate the very existence of South Korea itself and to keep it unknown to its residents, going beyond mere inter-state competition.

North Korea's Hallyu Control Policy: A Cultural Strategy for Regime Maintenance

North Korea's censorship is not limited to the realm of sports. Korean-related content is strictly controlled across all cultural domains, including dramas, films, music, and fashion. Since the mid-2000s, in certain areas of North Korea, South Korean dramas and K-pop have been secretly infiltrating, leading to the spread of the 'Korean Wave' primarily among the younger generation. Consequently, North Korean authorities have come to perceive the Korean Wave as a serious threat to the regime, initiating rigorous crackdowns and punishments. The Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers' Party fully controls broadcasting and publishing, and the 'Cultural Censorship Teams' organized within the Ministry of State Security and the military search residents' portable storage devices (USBs, SD cards), imposing criminal penalties for any discovered Korean content. The 'Anti-Reactionary Thought and Culture Law' enacted in 2021 categorizes the distribution and viewing of South Korean audiovisual materials as a serious crime, with the possibility of the death penalty for violators. Such extreme measures are fueled by concerns that Korean Wave content could inspire skepticism about the regime and longing for South Korea among the North Korean populace. Exposure, even indirectly, to South Korea's economic level, cultural diversity, and freedom of expression could heighten dissatisfaction with their current reality. Therefore, North Korea views the influx of the Korean Wave itself as 'ideological contamination' and seeks to block it thoroughly.

The Politics of Mosaic: The Negation of Being

The incident of mosaicing Lee Kang-in's face is not merely a technical edit, but a political act aimed at erasing his very existence. This represents a form of 'cultural annihilation' and reflects the North Korean authorities' desire to prevent the residents from recognizing his achievements and influence. It is an intentional deletion of the reality that clashes with the supremacy of the Juche ideology and socialist system emphasized by North Korea. Broadcasting in North Korea is not a means of conveying information but a tool for regime propaganda. Therefore, only information favorable to the regime exists within it, while the truths from the outside world are subject to removal. Lee Kang-in's goal-scoring moments symbolize the international achievements of Koreans, and they could serve as an opportunity for North Korean residents to confront the diversity and possibilities of the outside world. For this reason, the authorities seek to erase that moment from the residents' perception by rendering it invisible. This method resembles the 'edited history' often employed by totalitarian states in the past. Uncomfortable figures are removed from photographs and deleted from official records. North Korea continues to maintain this classical propaganda strategy into the 21st century, using visual means such as mosaics to strengthen control within the regime.

Conclusion: Signs of Change Flowing Even Within Oppressed Cultures

The Lee Kang-in mosaic incident symbolically shows how much the North Korean authorities fear the Korean Wave and external information. Culture is not merely a leisure activity it is a gateway to perceive the world and expand thinking. By thoroughly controlling this gateway, North Korea aims to block changes in the perceptions of its residents and quell dissatisfaction with the regime. However, in the information age, such censorship does not provide a fundamental solution. Unofficial inflow through USBs, mobile phones, and radios continues to occur, and among the younger generation, there exists a culture of using South Korean drama or K-pop lyrics as slang. This reflects the reality that no matter how much the regime strengthens censorship, it cannot completely block the ripple effect of culture and the spread of information. Even if North Korea erases Lee Kang-in, he is performing on the world stage, and that fact is spreading across borders. Ultimately, North Korea's cultural censorship is merely a temporary shield for maintaining the regime, and it cannot forever suppress the desires of its citizens to connect with the outside world. Lee Kang-in's blurred face is a faint sign of change slowly spreading, indicating that the Korean Wave is expanding beyond mere trends into a broader ideological impact.