Kim Jong Un bans North Koreans from watching Tottenham Hotspur matches, not because he likes Arsenal, Chelsea, bizarre reason is...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has banned Tottenham Hotspur matches from being shown in the country. This decision means North Korea’s citizens, who regularly watch Premier League games, will not be able to see the North London club play.

The ban is due to the presence of South Korean star Son Heung-min, who captains both Tottenham and the South Korean national team. North Korea does not allow games featuring South Korean players to be broadcast.

As a result, Spurs are never shown on the country’s version of Match of the Day. Last year, Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Hwang Hee-chan and Brentford’s Kim Ji-soo were also excluded from broadcasts for the same reason.

According to reports, Premier League matches are usually shown in North Korea on a four-month delay. This means games from last August were only broadcast in January. The state-run channel KCTV airs 60-minute edited versions of the games before news bulletins.

The findings were revealed in a report by the independent US think tank Stimson Center’s 38 North project. The report noted that while North Korean TV is filled with propaganda, sports is one of the few moments when state TV does not push a political message.

Martyn Williams, who worked on the report, said: "We just saw a lot of football on KCTV. It’s the main international sport they broadcast."

In 2023, North Korean TV aired matches from the Premier League, Champions League, and World Cup, along with Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga, France’s Ligue 1, and Italy’s Serie A. However, the country does not have an official agreement to show live Premier League highlights.