Best North Korea Propaganda Ever? Kim Jung-Un Hires Foreigners for Flashy Video

Here's something you don't see every day: the smiling face of a North Korean who has not been ordered by government decree to look happy.

The image comes from a brand new video promoting the Hermit Kingdom to the outside world, called Enter Pyongyang.

It has been created by a foreign team and the influence is obvious, with effects and fast editing from straight out of a pop music video.

In contrast, most images of North Korean society depict the place as a throwback to a 1970s version of Disneyland gone very wrong indeed.

The aim of Enter Pyongyang is apparently to shift perceptions about the Stalinist state which is ruled over by absolute ruler, Kim Jung-Un.

The podgy dictator had no input in to the video, we are assured by its creators at country branding firm JT Singh.

But officials from the government's National Tourism Administration did follow the film crew's every move around the capital city.

A PR fight-back was certainly called for in the wake of the regime's international sabre-rattling, bloody internal purges and lamentable track record on human rights.

Whether or not this video is enough to paper over such cracks is a moot point. Any attempt to get out of the showpiece city would likely be frowned upon, too.

Holiday in Pyongyang, anyone? Check out the video below.