Why North Korea hates Alan Titchmarsh’s jeans

Alan Titchmarsh presumably did not expect to see his programme Garden Secrets, filmed in 2010, air on North Korean state television this week. He would perhaps have been even more surprised to see the network blur out his blue jeans for viewers.

Why did the higher ups in North Korea decide that the public needed protecting from Titchmarsh’s denim? The reason has nothing to do with diplomatic relations between the hermit and United Kingdom. Nor is Pyongyang particularly interested in the topiary and 17^th century gardens featured in the episode.

Instead, Titchmarsh’s North Korean star turn is a convenient if extraordinary vehicle for the country to make a political statement and denounce its enemies. In Pyongyang’s eyes, the equation is simple: jeans mean capitalism, and the spread of jeans worldwide equals North Korea’s worst nightmare, the triumph of Western capitalism over socialism and authoritarian rule.