North Korea used billboards to advertise its state firms during an international soccer competition in Pyongyang last month, indicating that the communist state is employing a capitalist tool to advance its economic interests.

The North’s official Korean Central Television recently broadcast a preliminary regional competition between the North and Uzbekistan for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. During the broadcast, it showed ads for several North Korean firms selling Korean ginseng, construction materials and information technology.

During a 2009 competition in Pyongyang for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, no advertisements for North Korean firms were seen, although the North allowed South Korean and Japanese sponsors of the match -- including Samsung, Hyundai and Toshiba -- to advertise their brands.

Analysts said that the communist state seems to use the advertisements for multiple purposes including improving its international image of an economic backwater.

“The ads during the match are obviously a very good opportunity for the North to show to the outside world that it also has various corporate entities that are thriving,” said Chang Yong-seok, a senior analyst at Seoul National University’s Institute for Peace and Unification Studies.

“Thus, in terms of the political aspect, the North may want to use the advertisements to improve its image, largely associated with abject poverty.”

Chang added that the advent of commercials is also connected to the increased autonomy in the management of state corporations.

The North has allowed state firms to use their profits, left after meeting its state production quotas, to increase their production efficiency and interests, which might have triggered competition among them and raised the need for commercials, he pointed out.

Cho Bong-hyun, a senior researcher at the Industrial Bank of Korea, noted that the unusual ads appear to underscore Pyongyang’s efforts to attract foreign investments and shore up its debilitated economy.

“Recently, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered state firms to focus on exports and improve the quality of their goods. Kim appears to be more active to produce some tangible economic gains and in that process, we now see these ads,” he said.

“To show that his regime is faring well, he needs to show some economic achievements. But state firms do not seem to be performing well. Thus, there seems to be the need for ads.”

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)