North Korea’s New Propaganda Film Turns Shockingly Graphic (Full Transcript)
[00:00:00] Speaker 1: It's hard to believe this is North Korean propaganda. Graphic violence, partial nudity, even a suicide bomber. A new film just aired on North Korean state TV. It's called Days and Nights of Confrontation. The story's built around a long-rumored plot to blow up a train carrying the North Korean leader, and its style appeals to a younger audience. Their fixation on movies goes back decades. The late leader, Kim Jong-il, personally ran the nation's film industry, but secretly recorded audio reveals he complained about his own movies.
[00:00:29] Speaker 2: Why do you keep looking at my movies?
[00:00:34] Speaker 1: To realize his dreams of world-class North Korean movies, Kim Jong-il used a familiar tactic in his day. He kidnapped a South Korean movie star and her director ex-husband, and it happened right here in Hong Kong. The year was 1978. North Korean agents abducted Choi Eun-hee and Shin Sang-ok, taking both to Pyongyang, forcing them to make 17 films for Kim before they fled to the U.S. in 1986. Today, Kim Jong-un is ordering his studios to make bigger, bolder productions, modernizing a familiar message. Plotting against the leader ends in disaster.
- North Korean propaganda films are adopting more graphic, contemporary aesthetics to reach younger audiences.
- The regime’s leadership has historically treated film as a strategic tool for legitimacy and control.
- Kim Jong-il directly managed the film industry and even criticized his own productions in private recordings.
- The 1978 abductions of Choi Eun-hee and Shin Sang-ok were used to boost North Korea’s film output and prestige.
- Current messaging remains consistent: any attempt to harm or undermine the leader is portrayed as ending in catastrophe.