That’s the equivalent of reading the Bible eight times over… (Picture: Pen News)

North Korean citizens are being made to read the equivalent of the Bible eight times over in a bid to stop the spread of foreign media.

Kim Jong-Un is attempting to cling onto his influence by ordering everyone to read 10,000 pages of propaganda, which could include novels, speeches or transcripts of meetings from Kim and his predecessors.

Residents have also been told they must keep a reading journal for the party to inspect, showing what they have read and their thoughts on it, according to local media.

A source in South Pyongan province told Radio Free Asia: ‘Factory workers have to write down what they read everyday and present it to the party organisation at the end of the year.

‘The workers are all saying that the books in North Korea are nothing but propaganda that our great leader is the best, so we are not interested in reading them.

‘If the books were as fun to read as South Korean movies are to watch, wouldn’t we be reading them all night long?’

It is thought the new propaganda push is a bid to prevent the spread of South Korean films, TV programmes and music around the country.

Inside The Grand People’s Study House, the main library in Pyongyang, North Korea (Picture: Pen News)

It is believed Kim wants to prevent the spread of South Korean films, TV programmes and music around the country (Picture: Pen News)

Another source, this time from the North Pyongan province, told how members of the Socialist Women’s Union of Korea were made to read at least 30 pages of propaganda a day. This is equivalent to 11,000 pages a year.

‘It’s to eradicate the reactionary thought and culture remaining in the minds of residents and young people, and to rearm them with the party’s ideology,’ she told Radio Free Asia.

‘But who wants to read 10,000 pages of a North Korean book that’s all about praising the leader?’

Markus Bell, a North Korea expert at La Trobe University in Australia, said many would struggle to meet the target.

He said: ‘Regular North Koreans are too busy with the demands of every day life – making a living, raising kids, keeping warm during the winter – to throw themselves into reading long, dry tracts of state propaganda.

‘Those who do engage with this rather pointless state dictate will suffer the same fate as North Korea researchers worldwide – long, boring, regrettable hours spent glassy-eyed in front of reels of poorly written, fanciful praise to the Kims.

It is thought many will struggle to meet the target (Picture: Pen News)

‘North Koreans have become adept at doing the minimum necessary to satisfy local authorities.

‘Those who can avoid these dictates will do so, in whatever way they can.

‘That might mean paying off local cadres to turn a blind eye, or it might mean making excuses as to why they haven’t done the reading and kicking the can down the road until the next meeting.’

The author and research fellow said people will ‘be bored and find ways to dodge reading this rubbish’.

‘This policy is likely the brainchild of an excited bureaucrat who is angling for promotion,’ he added.

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‘What’s worse, is that this kind of propaganda is largely ineffective. Effective propaganda is slick and engaging to the point where you don’t realise it’s propaganda.

‘In this case, North Korea should study American soft power efforts and invest in entertaining film and digital propaganda. Baking state messaging into computer games and other fun activities will help to get their message across and engage with the new generation of North Koreans.’

Such propaganda textbooks make claims such as that Kim was a child prodigy who could drive at the age of three.

It has also been claimed that Kim had a famous race with the chief executive of a foreign yacht company. Kim won the race ‘despite the odds’.

North Koreans were even told Kim Jong-Il, Kim Jong-Un’s father, scored five holes in one and was 38 under par in his first ever round of golf.

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That’s the equivalent of reading the Bible eight times over.