Some days, life just throws you a giggle. Today is one of those days.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (aka North Korea) has announced a new Netflix-style on-demand streaming service. It’s called Manbang.
In Korean, ‘manbang’ means ‘everything.’ In English-speaking countries, it has some different connotations. Obviously.
The service is being provided by KCTV (the state-controlled TV service). Users will hook up a Roku-style set-top box to access state-controlled intranet through IPTV protocol, with limited viewing options. Most content will center around NK’s government history and leadership.
That said, not many of North Korea’s citizens have connectivity in the home, according to the BBC.
Funnily enough, Netflix changed its Twitter bio this morning to “Manbang knockoff,” which is just one in a long stream of reference-based bio jokes for the original on-demand streaming video service. You can check out the Netflix Twitter bio evolution right here.
And you can learn about Manbang (without Googling something awful) right here and here.