North Korea’s unprecedented television movement

Kim Jong Un had North Korean television screens with urgent news about the approaching typhoon for a full 24 hours, a move that experts have called unprecedented.

On Wednesday, North Korea’s state television channel, Korean Central Television (KCTV) did something it had never done before: broadcast overnight as storm Typhoon Bavi (Typhoon No. 8) approached the country.

Although the 24-hour broadcast was held to keep citizens informed of the approaching typhoon, it is unclear whether Kim will continue to broadcast news on such a regular basis.

Occurs when rumors about the Supreme Leader’s health have circulated again.

The rumors emerged after the South Korean spy agency said earlier this week that Kim had delegated some authority to her sister Kim Yo Jong to ease her “government stress.”

In response to the rumors, new photos of Kim Jong Un were also released. But he was wearing the same bright white jacket as in similar images posted in 2019, causing some to wonder if they were old photographs.

However, since then, Kim has appeared in state media visiting typhoon-struck locations the next day, Thursday, causing rumors of her ill health to diminish in intensity.

Kim Jong Un seemed concerned about the storm and called a meeting of the executive policy council of the Central Committee of the Korean Workers’ Party on Tuesday.

A typhoon last year, called Lingling, swept through the country and destroyed hundreds of homes.

According to North Korea’s central news agency, Kim called on the party to “thoroughly prevent casualties and minimize damage to crops.”

KCTV began broadcasting on August 26 at 9 a.m., but changed its strict schedule to alert citizens of the impending typhoon.

According to North Korea analysis site 38North, all news reports in North Korea begin with the national anthem, followed by the Kim Il Sung song and the Kim Jong Il song. Then he launches into the news. News about Kim Jong Un always comes first, followed by other news that are considered less important.

However, on Wednesday, the media prioritized reporting of the typhoon over that of the Supreme Leader.

It was “a rare case of something that took precedence over the news about Kim Jong Un,” according to 38North.

Just 20 minutes after the initial news report on the typhoon, a second was broadcast.

These two shows played throughout the day. They were also interspersed with a longer five-minute broadcast on the same topic.

By noon that day, the North Korean television station had broadcast eight warnings.

Every 20 to 30 minutes for the rest of the day, the station continued to broadcast this news, which resembled “breaking news” reports.

It continued late into the night, until dawn the next day.

The broadcasts were often done awkwardly, often cutting movies mid-sentence to deliver crucial information.

After 5 am, the reports changed. Instead of being typhoon warnings, they were now able to take journalists to the ground to film the damage caused by the unusual weather event.

But 38North reported: “After the danger passed, the state media went back to their regular diet of programming with a lot of propaganda.”