North Koreans trust foreign news but still tune out state TV

North Koreans in 2026 are tuning out state media — but they aren’t tuning out entirely.

While most North Koreans dismiss domestic news broadcasts as regime propaganda, many still regard the international news segment as broadly factual, according to sources inside the country who spoke with Daily NK this week. Even so, that relative credibility has not translated into genuine interest: the selective, disaster-heavy nature of foreign news coverage has left many people cold.

“People in Hoeryong don’t trust the domestic news that airs during broadcast time, but they tend to accept the international news as true, not fabricated,” a Daily NK source in North Hamgyong province said on Thursday. “But there’s a strong awareness that even international news is broadcast according to the state’s intentions and needs, so the overall reaction among people is indifferent.”

The sense that domestic reporting serves the regime’s interests is already widespread, the source said. Because the gap between what is broadcast and lived reality is so large, most people simply do not believe what they see on state television.

Cynicism toward ‘disaster-only’ foreign coverage

The international news segment, which follows domestic coverage during broadcast time, is viewed differently. Most people accept it as factual. But because the content focuses almost exclusively on air pollution, large fires, accidents, and casualties abroad, it has drawn pointed criticism.

“What use is it to us to hear about wildfires or disasters in other countries?” some said, according to the source. Others complained that international news should include both good and bad news from around the world, not only negative events. “It shouldn’t be called international news,” one person reportedly said. “It should be called accident-and-incident news.”

Others were more pointed. “They almost never show prosperous, developed countries,” some people noted. “They only pick out news from poor countries.” A few added that if the authorities were willing to broadcast news about wealthy nations, they would not be so aggressive in cracking down on South Korean songs and films.

The source explained the thinking many people apply to these broadcasts: “A lot of people say that international news exists to show us that we are living happily in a developed country under the grace of our respected leader (Chairman of the State Affairs Commission Kim Jong Un). But there is not a single person who doesn’t know how many countries in the world live better than ours.”

The State Affairs Commission, which Kim chairs, is North Korea’s highest state administrative body, equivalent in function to a cabinet.

Beyond indifference to the content, practical barriers also limit viewership. “Even if you watch television, it’s all stories far removed from our lives,” the source said. “And because the electricity situation is so poor, you have to use solar panels or batteries to watch, so there aren’t many people who make the effort.”

Another source in Ryanggang province echoed these assessments. “About 80 to 90 percent of the international news during broadcast time is accident-and-incident content,” the source said. Border areas like Hyesan are especially skeptical, the source added, noting that anyone who wants to can already watch Chinese television. “Who would be interested in broadcasts that only carry propaganda and accident reports?”

Taken together, the sources suggest that while North Korean authorities use state media to promote the regime’s superiority and legitimacy, people are reading between the lines. Given the depth of public cynicism, the actual propaganda effect, according to the sources, is likely very limited.

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