North Korea’s 33-year-old dictator Kim Jong Un loves television.

Under his rule, state-produced TV content has become one of Pyongyang’s primary tools for propaganda, replacing the feature-length films preferred by his father Kim Jong Il, according to Jean H. Lee, global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

In new research, Lee described how Kim Jong Un’s administration is creating made-for-TV dramas concentrated on youth and technology to appeal to the next generation of North Koreans. That’s in stark contrast to previous Kim dynasties that deployed films featuring military life and the loyalty of soldiers to influence citizens.

“With each change of leadership, there has been a shift in policy – movies and TV are employed as part of the media campaign to help disseminate the new leader’s priorities to his power base,” said Lee.

Since the reign of North Korean founding father Kim Il Sung, entertainment has long been a vital component of government policy in the pariah state. Kim Jong Il, a known cinema buff who kidnapped a South Korean director and actress in 1978 to produce North Korean movies, spent millions on a national film industry and initiated the Pyongyang International Film Festival in 1987.

But once his son took charge in 2011, films began declining and TV production ramped up instead, according to Lee.

New values

Under the current Kim’s watch, North Korean entertainment has evolved from being a mere conveyor of ideology to a tool used to shape society, Lee described. For example, recent TV content promotes the idea of family, community and the use of technology for patriotism – concepts unexplored in older movies.

“Our Neighbors,” North Korea’s version of a prime-time sitcom that was released in 2013, depicts a highly fictionalized version of family life – a bold departure from films during the Kim Jong Il era that emphasised putting the state before family, Lee explained.

Notably, the two-part series depicts weapons testing – the catalyst behind sanctions that have brought economic hardships to civilians. In one scene, characters cheer and dance after iconic news presenter Ri Chun Hui, the same newsreader who announced details of the state’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch, describes the successful launch of a long-range rocket.

Another drama, “Value Others,” also reinforces strong bonds between family members.

This emphasis on family ties is “a possible allusion to the issue of defection,” Lee noted. Emphasising filial piety may be a strategy for preventing defections, which have been rising in recent years, she said.

“Value Others” is about a naval officer, but rather than focus on his military career, the short drama concentrates on his life after graduating from the naval academy. Lee notes that the protagonist is mostly seen in civilian clothes instead of military uniform, which relates to one of Kim Jong Un’s key policy priorities: homegrown production of consumer goods, including fashion.

Meanwhile, the 50-minute long “Young Researchers” is a message on using science and technology for patriotic causes, Lee said.

It centres on middle-school students using computers and other gadgets that many North Koreans have never seen in a competition. The top prize is a rocket launcher, which is “a direct correlation between the science experiments of youth and nuclear technology of the future,” Lee notes.

Even when a student pulls a prank on classmates, he does so using a remote-controlled drone. “The message here: If you’re going to be mischievous, at least practice your skills in a technology with potential military use,” Lee said.

This article was first published on CNBC.

BALI – Australia’s Jetstar will cancel nine of 15 planned flights out of the Indonesian holiday island of Bali on Friday (Dec 1), the budget airline said, following a forecast that volcanic ash could hit airport operations in the evening.

An erupting volcano at Mount Agung forced the airport to close from Monday through part of Wednesday, stranding thousands of travellers from Australia, China and other countries before the winds changed and flights resumed.

Jetstar and its parent, Qantas Airways Ltd, had planned up to 18 flights on Friday to ferry 4,300 passengers home to Australia, including one by a Qantas 747 jet. But nine Jetstar flights will be cancelled after “a sudden change in today’s forecast for this evening in Bali”, Jetstar said in an update on its website.

Other airlines with regular Bali flights, including Singapore Airlines Ltd, Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd and Garuda Indonesia, have not posted updates on flight plans for Friday evening on their websites.

Ash was visible to the south-east of Mount Agung, the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre said, with reports indicating emissions of steam and ash.

“Volcanological sources indicate a larger eruption is still possible,” it said on its website.

An estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people live in a danger area near the volcano in the island’s north, but tens of thousands have resisted government orders to evacuate.

Airlines avoid flying through volcanic ash as it can damage aircraft engines, clogging fuel and cooling systems, hampering pilot visibility and even causing engine failure.

TOKYKO – Japan’s Emperor Akihito will step down on April 30, 2019, the prime minister announced Friday, the first retirement in more than two centuries in the imperial family believed to be the world’s oldest.

Shinzo Abe said he was “deeply moved” at the “smooth decision” taken after a special meeting of the Imperial Council to decide on the date for the popular 83-year-old to step down for health reasons.

“The government will make utmost efforts to ensure that the Japanese people can celebrate the emperor’s abdication and the succession of the crown prince,” added Abe.

Akihito’s eldest son, 57-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito, is expected to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne the next day.

The emperor shocked the country last year when he signalled his desire to take a back seat after nearly three decades, citing his age and health problems.

There have been abdications in Japan’s long imperial history dating back more than 2,600 years but the last one was more than two centuries ago.

Akihito is the 125th person to sit on the Chrysanthemum Throne since Emperor Jimmu, said to be a descendant of the legendary sun goddess Amaterasu.

Emperors have played a crucial role in the country’s native Shinto religion, conducting various annual rites and prayers for the prosperity of the nation.

FEMALE SUCCESSION

There is no republican movement to speak of in Japan and the emperor and the royal family enjoy the admiration of the vast majority of the country.

But Akihito’s unexpected move presented a challenge since there was no law to deal with an emperor retiring from what is usually a job for life – and it reignited debate about allowing women to ascend the traditionally male-only throne.

In June, the parliament passed a one-off rule allowing the ageing emperor to step down.

The abdication must take place within three years and applies only to Akihito, who has been treated for prostrate cancer and has also had heart surgery.

Some worried that changing the rule to allow any emperor to abdicate could put Japan’s future monarchs at risk of being subject to political manipulation.

The status of the emperor is sensitive in Japan given its 20th century history of war waged in the name of Akihito’s father Hirohito, who died in 1989.

Akihito was born in 1933 just as Japan was embarking on its militaristic sweep across Asia, and was 11 when the war ended in defeat.

His father was allowed to remain on the throne after Japan’s defeat, but his status was downgraded from semi-divine sovereign to a figurehead with no political power.

Akihito embraced the role and tried to use it to help heal the scars of the war while remoulding one of the world’s oldest monarchies for a democratic age.

Even before he assumed the throne, Akihito broke with tradition when he married the daughter of a wealthy flour magnate in 1959, becoming the first imperial heir to wed a commoner.

The emperor and his wife Empress Michiko are seen as being the more accessible face of a monarchy that largely remains in the shadows, unlike the British royals.

Akihito is barred from commenting on politics, but he has over the years hinted at his own anti-nationalist views.

Speaking at a memorial marking the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender, Akihito expressed “deep remorse” for the country’s actions in World War II.

The looming abdication has reignited concerns about a potential succession crisis. There are no more eligible male heirs after the 11-year-old son of Crown Prince Naruhito’s younger brother Akishino.

Japan’s centuries-old succession would be broken if that son, Hisahito, does not have a male child.

In response, Japan’s parliament has called for a debate on giving women a bigger role in the male-dominated monarchy.

The idea – including the possibility of letting women ascend the throne – is popular with ordinary Japanese, but it is vehemently opposed by traditionalists.

Female imperial family members lose their royal status upon marriage to a commoner, a point highlighted by the engagement of one of Akihito’s granddaughters, Princess Mako, to her college sweetheart.

A 36-year-old man who was arrested for allegedly groping 20 to 30 women on Bangkok buses from August to November has confessed and claimed he could not keep his hands to himself after spotting the victims, a senior police officer said on Thursday.

Peerapol Yodcharoen, who works as a tourism greeter at Bangkok airports, was caught inappropriately touching a woman in a video clip taken in the late morning of November 26 and published by the woman on Facebook, said city police deputy chief Pol Maj-General Sompong Chingdoung during a press conference at the Bang Sue precinct.

After the clip then went viral on social media, a previous victim identified by the alias “Por” reported that the same man had groped her breasts on the afternoon of August 18.

Por said she recognised the man who had groped her and then fled, so she filed a police complaint on Sunday, resulting in a police investigation and the issuance of an arrest warrant.

Peerapol was arrested at his home in Tambon Bang Poon of Pathum Thani’s Muang district, Sompong said.

He was charged with committing an indecent act against a person over 15 years of age who was unable to resist, which is punishable by up to 10 years in jail term, a Bt20,000 (S$825) in fine or both.

Police also found that Peerapol had been arrested on April 4 for a similar indecent action committed at a bus stop in Don Muang, he added.

Bangkok buses, which are often crowded by commuters, are reported as scenes of sexual harassment more frequently than motorcycle taxis and car taxis, according to a survey announced on November 21 as part of the “Theung Wela Pheuk”, or “Time to Intervene”, campaign.

The campaign was aimed to encourage members of the public to intervene to when witnessing offensive behaviour and make Bangkok public transport safe for women to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25.