North Korea's state television channel has censored a BBC gardening programme - by blurring out presenter Alan Titchmarsh's trousers.
Central TV aired a 2010 edition of Alan Titchmarsh's Garden Secrets for its morning audience, but made sure that viewers could not see his jeans.
Jeans are seen as a symbol of western imperialism in the secretive state and as such are banned.
Mr Titchmarsh said the news has given him "a bit of street cred".
"It's taken me to reach the age of 74 to be regarded in the same sort of breath as Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Rod Stewart. You know wearing trousers that are generally considered by those of us of a sensitive disposition to be rather too tight," he told the BBC.
He then went on to say that his jeans were not too tight, but were clearly not acceptable in North Korea.
He said: "I've never seen myself as a dangerous subversive imperialist - I'm generally regarded as rather cosy and pretty harmless, so actually it's given me a bit of street cred really hasn't it?"
North Korea's rules prohibiting jeans have been in place since the 1990s.
Back then, leader Kim Jong-il declared denim trousers to be a symbol of Western - and specifically American - imperialism, which had no place in a socialist state, according to Seoul-based NK News.
In recent years, a crackdown on Western culture has reiterated this ban, with state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun telling citizens in 2020 to reject what it termed "bourgeois culture" in favour of a "superior socialist lifestyle".
Current leader Kim Jong-un, himself a fan of voluminous legwear, is reportedly irked by skinny jeans and T-shirts bearing Western logos which are popular in South Korea.
How did North Korea get hold of a BBC programme?
Western programming is extremely rare on North Korean screens, as the regime is careful - to the point of paranoia - about allowing foreign culture to enter the country.
Yet this is not the first time Garden Secrets has been aired before on Central TV, with Mr Titchmarsh saying he was "surprised" to appear on screens in the Communist state.
But it is still not entirely clear how it arrived in North Korea in the first place.
While satellite dishes and access to the global internet are banned except for the very few trusted classes in Pyongyang, foreign media still arrives in the country, often on memory cards smuggled over the Chinese border. Owning or trading in foreign media is illegal.
However, North Korean TV often pirates content from foreign broadcasters, blurring out onscreen logos to hide the original source.
This is often the case with their airing of Premier League, Champions League, and International football.
In 2014, during one of North Korea's periods of connecting with the West, there were discussions suggesting possibly gifting UK television programmes to the East Asian state as a means of demonstrating so-called "soft-power".
The Sunday Times revealed in 2014 that BBC Worldwide - the former name of the corporation's commercial arm BBC Studios - and the Foreign Office were hoping to "open [the North Korean] people's eyes to the world beyond the closed republic without offending the regime".
The paper quoted a Whitehall official as saying: "Programmes sent to North Korea would have to be something that isn't offensive, like Mr Bean, EastEnders, Miss Marple or Poirot.
"You couldn't send Dad's Army, as it is about war. But Teletubbies could be an option, or The Good Life, with a bit of gardening and squabbling in the kitchen".
It's not known if Alan Titchmarsh's Garden Secrets was part of this package, or even if the programmes were delivered at all.
Central TV aired a 2010 edition of Alan Titchmarsh's Garden Secrets for its morning audience, but made sure that viewers could not see his jeans. Jeans are seen as a symbol of western imperialism in the secretive state and as such are banned. Mr Titchmarsh said the news has given him "a bit of street cred".
By wearing jeans to potter about in Britain's gardens in his BBC TV series Garden Secrets, Titchmarsh, 74, fell foul of a North Korean ban on the garments, which the regime has forbidden since the early 1990s because they are seen as a symbol of US imperialism.
Alan faced more health issues back in 2021 when he was hospitalised with severe chest pains he believed was a heart attack. Recalling the moment to The Sunday Post, he said: “At first, I thought it was indigestion as I know that can give you chest pains — but it didn't wear off.
Most propaganda is based on the Juche ideology, veneration of the ruling Kim family, the promotion of the Workers' Party of Korea, and hostilities against both the Republic of Korea and the United States. The first syllable of Juche, "ju", means the man; the second syllable, "che", means body of oneself.
North Korea has declared wearing blue jeans as illegal as it symbolises American imperialism, which the east Asian nation terms as its enemy. The country, in an attempt to restrict western influence on its people, has also banned piercings, and issued strict guidelines for choosing a hairstyle.
They are jeans which look like used one. But they are not used they have been faded by the company through machines or by using faded colors. They are faded only for looks. They are jeans which look like used one. But they are not used they have been faded by the company through machines or by using faded colors.
Obviously, all net worths have to be taken with a grain of salt, since without taking a peek at Alan's bank balance we can never know for sure how much he's worth. But... if we're estimating - and if we're checking The Daily Express - Alan is reportedly worth a whopping £7.1 million.
The day comes following a high profile Italian rape trial where the survivor was blamed for her rape because of the type of jeans she was wearing. In protest and solidarity, individuals are encouraged to wear denim to combat the idea that rape and sexual violence are the fault or responsibility of survivors.
When the TV presenter and gardener, 73, was asked in a new interview about his 40-year-friendship with the monarch, he said: "The King sweetly calls me a friend, which is very nice of him. "I always feel a little bit guilty when I say he's a friend of mine – it sounds as though I'm trying to latch on to his coattails.
During one big argument in 2000, the usually calm Alan got very angry while planting beds in a garden in Pitsea, Essex. While cutting wood, Tommy accidentally got sawdust all over the flowers, which made Alan really upset.
Alan married Alison, a doctor, 48 years ago and it was around that time he picked up a trawl and a watering can for the first time. They first met when they were both in their early 20s at an amateur dramatics group and quickly found out there was a lot in common.
As of 2024, despite slowly renewing cross-border trade with China, North Korea remained one of the world's most isolated countries and one of Asia's poorest. In 2024, Pyongyang announced it was ending all economic cooperation with South Korea.
Radio or television sets that can be bought in North Korea are preset to receive only the government frequencies and sealed with a label to prevent tampering with the equipment.
The ban on K-pop is part of a campaign to shield North Koreans from the “malign” influence of western culture that began under the former leader, Kim Jong-il and intensified under his son Kim Jong-un.
The North Korean government does not permit freedom of thought, opinion, expression, or information. All media is strictly controlled. Accessing phones, computers, televisions, radios, or media content that is not sanctioned by the government is illegal and considered “anti-socialist behavior” to be severely punished.
Examples of censored topics include: sexuality (including educational information about the subject), hom*osexuality, information about North Korea, violence, anti-government materials, and political discourse.
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