North Korea: the greatest, oddest, show on earth. What larks. It is tempting to blame Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the South Park creators also responsible for Team America: World Police in which Kim Jong-il featured prominently – and absurdly – for the manner in which North Korea is treated as some kind of gruesome entertainment. The Norks are funny, not terrifying.

The press often endorses, indeed reinforces, this attitude. An advertising campaign in New York City promoting the Daily Mail’s website depicts mug shots of Kim Jong-un (the current North Korean leader) and Kim Kardashian (a staple of ‘reality’ TV) above the slogan “The Kims are on the same page”. Celebrity gossip and celebrity tyranny are all good for a laugh. This week, newspapers treated us to features on “the most entertaining rants” delivered by Kim Jong-un since the 30-year-old leader came to power two years ago.

These lists were prompted by Kim’s latest purge of the party elite in which he ousted his uncle Jang Sung-taek. Jang’s execution was but the latest reminder that North Korea is a mafia state as well as a gulag state. Jang was arrested at a meeting of the North Korea politburo that was being broadcast live by Korean television. A reminder, if it were needed, that Kim Jong-un has no intention of relinquishing his grip on power.