N. Korean leader pulls plug on TV commercials: sources

SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has sacked his
television point man in anger over commercials that made a splash earlier this
year by promoting the communist state's beer and other local products, sources
here said Sunday.
"Recently, Kim saw the commercials while watching TV. He was enraged, asking
where the commercials came from and describing them as the prototype of China's
early reforms," one source said.
Starting July 2, North Korea's television played commercials that showed young
women in traditional clothes serving frothy mugs of Taedonggang beer billed as
"Pride of Pyongyang."
Other products, including ginseng and quail, soon followed in television
advertisements, which had rarely been seen in the country, generating outside
speculation that North Korea may be starting to embrace the capitalist mode of
life.
But according to Yonhap News Agency's own analysis, the commercials disappeared
as of the end of August. The sources said Cha Sung-su, the North's top
broadcaster, has also been discharged.
One source said Cha may have been unduly victimized in the case because the
commercials were a product of Kim's earlier instruction to create "more
interesting and diverse" television programs.
Cha, 69, is one of Kim's closest aides, having accompanied him on public
inspections at least six times since the leader reportedly had a stroke last year
and then recovered.
He is the North's top television man, having served on the communist country's
broadcasting committee for about four decades. He is also known in North Korea
for his numerous poems.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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