Ryongnamsan Television

Ryongnamsan Television is an oddity even by Pyongyang's standards. It's the education-first channel, which means you'll get lectures on metallurgy, Korean language grammar, and physics sandwiched between segments explicitly reminding viewers to study the works of Kim Jong Un. The tone is stern, the pacing glacial, like C-SPAN if C-SPAN were mandated to fixate on juche ideals. There is real technical knowledge buried inside though. The mathematics and engineering segments for advanced students are surprisingly rigorous, far beyond what comparable state television in other countries would attempt. For a Westerner without fluent Korean, it's tough to follow. But even watching without understanding, you sense the pedagogical intent. Graphics are dated, the studio lighting harsh, and the presenters rarely smile. Yet there is a strange sincerity to it all. If you want to see how a nation educates its elites outside of internet access, Ryongnamsan Television live gives an unfiltered look at that institution. To watch Ryongnamsan Television online is to glimpse a side of North Korea that isn't parades and missiles, but recitation and chalkboards. It's Education TV North Korea style, and it feels less like broadcasting and more like a university lecture hall that accidentally got a TV license.