North Korea boosts Olympic coverage as athletes bring in the golds

North Korea has dramatically increased the amount of Olympic coverage that it's allowing its citizens to view, based on the superlative performance of the nation's team, according to a North Korean press official cited by Singapore's Asia One.

The communist nation went from showing only 15 minutes of Olympics on television a day to broadcasting five hours. The move comes in response to their team's strong showing: four gold medals so far, already matching the highest number won to date by the country in the 1992 Barcelona games, said the report. 

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Ri Kwang-chol, the media director of North Korea's Radio and Television Broadcasting Committee and a delegate to the ongoing London games, said that basically, their athletes had exceeded expectations, reported Asia Online.

He said he hoped they would win 15 more golds, according to the report — an ambitious remark underscoring the level of enthusiasm felt by his fellow North Koreans. 

"People back home are excited about our athletes' great performances," especially after judoka An Kum-ae won the country's first gold medal of the games, Ri said, according to South Korea's Korea Times. 

North Korea has one of the smallest delegations at the games, reported The New York Times. The country's communist leaders tightly monitor information allowed into the country.