North Korea's Propaganda Machine Gets Makeover.
BLITZER: North Korea's propaganda machine is getting a makeover as you've just seen. Brian Todd has been looking into this for us. Brian, tell our viewers what you're learning.</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we have recently been seeing sleeker looking newscasts on North Korean state T.V., younger anchors, a more Western-looking production. This is part of Kim Jong-un's propaganda makeover, and it includes the phasing out of a woman who became something of a T.V. legend in North Korea.</s>TODD (voice-over): She is called the Pink Lady. For decades, Ri Chun-hee delivered North Korea's most grand announcements with breathless energy. Once even donning all black and crying openly as she announced the death of Kim Jong-un's father. But tonight, it appears North Korean state television is looking to refresh its image, putting Ri Chun-hee into semi-retirement. The Pink Lady's traditional dress and artistic backdrop have been replaced with younger anchors and a sleeker T.V. studio look for its propaganda-filled newscast. While it's all still propaganda, it looks decidedly Western, with reporters out into the field covering regular North Korean citizens and fancy graphics, drone footage, and even time-lapse video.</s>JEAN LEE, DIRECTOR OF THE HYUNDAI MOTOR-KOREA FOUNDATION CENTER FOR KOREAN HISTORY AND PUBLIC POLICY, THE WOODROW WILSON CENTER: This is something that they want to tell their people. We are modernizing under our young leader. And with his youth comes a whole new level of technology.</s>TODD (voice-over): In one instance, they even staged an interruption onset. A presenter walks in and hands the anchors with a breaking news update on how a steel factory is doing. Analysts who study the regime's media and propaganda machine say the change in North Korean state T.V.'s broadcast could be influenced by more content coming in from outside North Korea.</s>LEE: They do also have the ability to go to the local DVD shop and buy Russian, Romanian, Chinese T.V. soap operas and movies. And so they are aware of foreign content, and some of that is certainly seeping into how they present their</s>T.V. TODD (voice-over): Analysts say this is also part of Kim Jong-un's broader makeover, a retooling of North Korea's image from that of a stodgy Cold War era hermit kingdom to a portrayal of a modern, vigorous country with young leadership. Part of that effort, analysts say, involve Kim promoting his younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, to powerful positions, even putting her front and center at international events such as the Winter Olympics. Cameras are even allowed to capture Kim at pop concerts with his glamorous wife, Ri Sol-ju, a former orchestra singer.</s>DR. BALBINA HWANG, VISITING PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Kim Jong-un is trying to show his audience that he is the young leader, he's dynamic. That he's actually the younger generation. That's he's in touch with pop culture.</s>TODD (voice-over): As for those slicker propaganda casts, experts believe they are part of Kim's plan to keep younger North Koreans in line with the regime.</s>LEE: He wants to get his kids hooked on drones, on devices, on technology, on cell phones. He dangles them as enticements for what their future may hold, what kind of creature comforts may lie in store for them if they are loyal to the regime.</s>TODD: Analysts say there is a danger with this technology and propaganda makeover for Kim's regime. That with faster-paced newscast, still not airing live but turned around much more quickly than they were before, and with the technology moving faster than the regime can sometimes keep up with, there is a risk that Kim and his circle could lose some control of their message. Wolf, that anchor, Ri Chun-hee, is not gone forever. She'll be brought back for big announcements.</s>BLITZER: Very interesting indeed. Good report, Brian. Thank you very much. Coming up, the House Judiciary Committee subpoenas two more ex-White House officials after former White House Counsel Don McGahn defies a subpoena, sparking more impeachment calls from Democrats. And the U.S. military intercepts Russian warships -- warplanes, I should say, off the coast of Alaska. What's behind Moscow's latest move?