Mick Hartley

South Korean TV dramas and soaps are wildly popular with North Koreans despite a charge of treason awaiting anyone caught watching them. This must be be especially galling for a film-buff like the Dear Leader. His solution? Make our own dramas! Fight fire with fire! But, alas, things have not worked out to plan:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has apparently pulled a historical TV drama produced at his orders off the air before it finished its run. North Korean officials wanted to put on a drama that could compete with South Korean soaps but failed to lure viewers in the North.

North Korean Central TV recently broadcast the drama, called "Kye Wol-hyang," which was epically produced with a cast of the top actors. 

Kye Wol-hyang was famous gisaeng or female entertainer in Pyongyang in the 16th century. During the Japanese invasion, Kye seduced and deceived the Japanese general Konishi Yukinaga to kill him. Kye then committed suicide. The series started amid high expectations but quickly tanked due to poor ratings. 

Senior officials in Pyongyang lambasted the series and Kim Jong-il himself is said to have become angry when he watched an episode and ordered it off the air, according to a North Korean source. 

A North Korean official from Sinuiju in North Pyongyan Province said, "In the past it would have been considered a well-made historical TV drama, but North Korean viewers' tastes have become much more refined, and they didn't even bother to watch it." 

The unfortunates responsible can no doubt expect a long stay in one of North Korea's many camps. And the Dear Leader's humiliation continues:

Kim, who is a movie buff, once had South Korean movie director Shin Sang-ok and his wife, the actress Choi Eun-hee, kidnapped and forced them to set up a movie production company called Shin Film. But when Shin Film closed down, North Korea's film industry became dilapidated and has been unable to produce anything capable of appealing to viewers in the North.