Disney character shown on N. Korean TV

By Kim Young-jin

An image of Mickey Mouse was spotted recently on North Korean television, in a rare appearance of a Western icon in the Stalinist state's tightly-controlled media.

A boy sporting a Mickey Mouse backpack appeared on an episode of “Mother of Orphans,” a show about a woman who cares for orphans in a mining village, Yonhap New Agency reported. It was not certain whether the boy was a true orphan or an actor.

It also wasn’t clear whether the image had been approved by authorities, though observers said it was likely an oversight as Western media is generally frowned on in the Stalinist state.

Still, the Disney character seems to be popular in the North. A photograph taken in September by a Russian visitor to the North and released by Radio Free Asia captured a schoolgirl carrying a similar backpack.

North Korean television tightly controls its stream of news broadcasts, documentaries and soap operas, but Western, South Korean and other cultural items are reportedly available in the country’s private markets. Such goods are usually brought in through the porous border with China.

북한 어린이 책가방에 미키마우스 등장

북한 TV방송에 미국의 상징물 가운데 하나인 `미키마우스'가 새겨진 가방을 맨 어린이가 등장해 시선을 끌었다.

연합뉴스가 11일 확인한 바에 따르면 북한 조선중앙TV는 9일 '고아들의 어머니'란 주제로 방영하면서 월트 디즈니의 만화영화 주인공인 미키마우스가 뚜렷이 새겨진 책가방을 맨 남자 어린이를 한 여성이 격려하는 장면을 보여줬다.

이 어린이가 진짜 고아인지 배우인지는 확실하지 않다.

또한 이 영상물이 북한 당국의의 승인을 받았는지도 확실하지 않다.