ABU agrees Olympic TV deal with North Korea

27 July 2012 | Posted in Broadcast, Olympics, Europe, Asia | By James Emmett

The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) has licensed the rights to the London Olympics to North Korean national broadcaster KRT.

3,000 hours of live and recorded coverage will be made available to KRT, while six members of a KRT production team have been accredited to the International Broadcast Centre in London.

According to a release announcing the deal, the ABU will 'assist the KRT in providing dedicated programming featuring competitors from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).'

“The ABU has provided key sporting events to the DPRK, including the Olympic and Asian Games as well as major football tournaments such as the Fifa World Cup and European Football Championships," said the ABU president Kim In-Kyu.

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"As the ABU president I will continue to expand our sporting products as well as technical assistance and contents exchange in developing nations where the budgets are limited and where technical resources need improving.”

A last minute deal was reached between the two parties for broadcast coverage of the Fifa World Cup in South Africa in 2010 following suggestions that North Korea had been illegally obtaining a satellite feed of the coverage from neighbouring South Korea.

The North Korean Olympic team has already been involved in some controversy in London after the wrong national flag was shown on screen before the country's women's soccer game with Colombia.

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