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North Korea’s state TV edited out a South Korean footballer’s goal during the Club World Cup broadcast. Here’s what was shown, and what was hidden from viewers in Pyongyang and why.
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central Television (KCTV) once again highlighted its rigid censorship protocols by blurring a key moment from the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. During its delayed broadcast of the match between Paris Saint-Germain and Atlético Madrid, South Korean midfielder Lee Kang-in’s decisive penalty goal was edited beyond recognition.
The match, originally played at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles, aired five days later on KCTV. By then, PSG had already secured a comfortable 3–0 lead. In stoppage time, Atlético conceded a handball, awarding PSG a penalty. Lee Kang-in calmly converted the opportunity in the 97th minute, scoring his first goal of the tournament. But for North Korean viewers, the moment appeared different.
KCTV blurred Lee’s face and jersey number during the goal. The final broadcast made no mention of his name, simply stating that PSG had defeated Atlético Madrid. This form of erasure fits into a broader pattern in North Korea’s broadcasting policies, where notable moments involving South Korean athletes are either concealed or completely omitted.
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Not A New Phenomenon
This isn’t new. Matches featuring South Korean footballers like Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), or Lee Kang-in himself are often altered before airing, or skipped altogether. KCTV tends to show international football games shortly before its 5 p.m. evening news, focusing heavily on the English Premier League or UEFA Champions League. But as soon as a South Korean athlete is prominently involved, censorship appears.
In cases where showing the match becomes unavoidable, KCTV blurs out not just faces, but even national flags and on-screen graphics. During the 2022 FIFA World Cup and last year’s AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup, the South Korean flag was pixelated. The country's national team was only referred to as a “puppet South Korean team” by the regime's media apparatus.
North Korean media is tightly controlled by the ruling Workers’ Party, and sports content is no exception. Football, a global game that often unites rival nations, is instead used as another platform for ideological control. While most football fans around the world cheer for individual brilliance, North Korea ensures that any success by a South Korean player is either erased or reframed.
In January 2025, KCTV began airing select Premier League matches from the 2024/25 season. But as reported by US-based platform 38 North, these broadcasts came with “heavy-handed intervention” by Pyongyang’s censors. That means clubs featuring South Korean stars remain a blind spot on North Korean screens. Lee Kang-in’s Club World Cup goal might have made headlines worldwide, but for KCTV’s audience, it simply didn’t happen.
