State TV has started broadcasting matches, albeit with heavy-handed intervention of Pyongyang regime’s censors

TV viewers in North Korea have to endure more than their fair share of war films – in which there can be only one victor, news reports delivered with revolutionary gusto and breathless Kim dynasty propaganda.

But even for a country as wary of outside influences as North Korea, it appears unable to resist the lure of Premier League football – the most-watched sport on the nation’s TV screens. Just don’t expect to see any live action, let alone Gary Lineker presenting in his underpants.