Dive Brief:

• North Korea just launched Manbang, an on-demand streaming service.
• Content that can be streamed is “largely restricted to state-run television and propaganda-filled movies,” according to The New York Times.
• North Korean officials say they have also developed their own computer operating system tablet computers.

Dive Insight:

Lest Netflix be afraid it's losing a valuable market amid its plans for global domination, the state-run Korean Central Television basically has confirmed that Manbang is mostly propaganda, all of the time. Manbang reportedly also offers language courses in English and Russian.

At least Netflix has taken note: Its Twitter description (at least, as of this writing) describes Netflix as a "Manbang knockoff."

The Times also notes that internet access is almost nonexistent in North Korea, which would seem to limit the potential audience for the service by default. And in case you were wondering: "Manbang" in Korean means "everything."