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News spoof declares North Korea finalists in the World Cup

Most of the world knows that Germany beat Argentina Sunday in extra time to take the World Cup for the first time since West Germany won in 1990. However, some in North Korea received a very different story.

By Aileen Graef

PYONGYANG, North Korea, July 14 (UPI) -- A news spoof declaring North Korea finalists in the 2014 FIFA World Cup even fooled some media outlets into publishing the news as a legitimate government broadcast on their websites.

Due to North Korea's high level of secrecy and isolation, most of the news from the country comes from North Korean state-run media. One North Korean news parody account, Korea News Backup, posted a spoof on a North Korean news broadcast declaring North Korea finalists in the World Cup.

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The fake news report said that North Korea annihilated their competition -- including specifically Japan, the U.S. and China -- to head to the finals against Portugal. North Korea has not qualified for a World Cup since 2010, and Portugal was eliminated in this year's World Cup in the group stage.

North Korea is receiving taped broadcasts of the World Cup, albeit on a 24-35 hour delay, so North Koreans know what is happening. However, some outlets still reported the spoof as a propaganda broadcast, including the Toronto Sun, The Mirror, and the U.K. Metro. After realizing their error, some of those outlets have updated their stories, claiming it was part of a broadcast from the North Korean government.

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North Korean citizens with televisions will be watching Germany defeat Argentina in the finals as soon as the government broadcasts the taped match.

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