North Korea may have launched its largest intercontinental ballistic missile – and put the world on notice.
But it’s the way the news was relayed on state-run television that has caused widespread bafflement.
Instead of triumphant – but staid – tones, this time North Koreans were treated to what they are not supposed to have: a Hollywood-style movie.
It had it all – Kim Jong-un in leather jacket and dark glasses, video effects and dramatic music.
North Korean Central Television usually broadcasts a repetitive diet of Kim family propaganda, alongside military band concerts and feature films about patriotism and feats of labour.
Anything that deviates from this sticks out like a sore thumb.
That’s why the coverage of the launch of Hwasong-17 was so different.
Notionally it came in a news bulletin, but the style was anything but.
Viewers were given 15 minutes of video effects, staged drama, and the sight of Kim Jong-un whipping off his dark glasses to look directly into the camera as if to say, “Let’s do this”.
