Spirit of supreme leader stuck behind enemy lines

It is a scene that the Dear Leader of North Korea did not live to see: propaganda posters of the secretive communist country encased in the glass and steel belly of the capitalist beast.

The posters, brightly coloured specimens touting the juche ideology of economic self-reliance and other party lines of Pyongyang, are exhibited at the last place the late Kim Jong-il probably thought they would end up - Taikoo Place, an office complex hosting the likes of luxury-brand behemoth LVMH and American cable network CNN.

Reading the bold affirmations of national pride, the irony is not lost on viewers.

"Our resolve: an earth without North Korea must be smashed," reads a poster of a great hulk of a man smashing a map of the United States to pieces as lava flows from the cracks.

"Let's make them love things that are ours," reads another, which portrays young North Koreans playing traditional games.

The blustering propaganda machine of the North Koreans is the stuff of legends, but as more posters find their way to the outside world, their bite is losing its venom domestically.

"I've talked to some people, and the anti-American, anti-Japanese pieces are becoming fewer and fewer. This also reflects the policy of the government," said Eric Wong, 40, who owns the exhibition pieces.