North Korea has recently seen a dip in the number of those
secretly enjoying South Korean films and television dramas, due to an increase
in random home inspections now involving agents from the State Security
Department [SSD], the Daily NK has learned.
“Recently, aside from the 109 Group that is in charge of
cracking down on CDs containing dramas from the South, officials from the SSD,
People’s Safety Ministry, and People’s Committee are also taking part in
surveillance,” a Pyongyang-based source reported on Friday. “With this, people
are now trying to stay away from South Korean dramas.”
“Especially now, even bribes that could have helped bypass
punishment from the SSD are no longer an effective option,” the source
explained. “And with word that those involved will face penalization with no
mercy, people are now too scared to watch them.”
The North’s SSD has proven these are not empty threats by
carrying out harsher punishments, further discouraging people from enjoying
their South Korean favorites. According to the source, a woman in her 50s from
the Hyongjaesan District in Pyongyang was caught watching a series from the
South and shipped off to a political prison camp. The merchant who lent her the
CD was also apprehended and inevitably faced the same fate.
“Even among those who sell the dramas, they are leaning
towards pulling out of the business because they know the SSD labels whoever
watches them as political criminals,” the source said. “If you ask those who
used to trade the CDs if they have any, now, they adamantly shake their heads.”
The crackdown on so-called Hallyu [Korean Wave] content in
North Korea is a more marked trend since the leadership of Kim Jong Eun. On
January 14th, 2012, he ordered a crackdown on “impure” recorded content and
publications, which led to the creation of an organization dubbed, “Unit 114.”
This became the first regular group instituted during the current leadership
with the aim of preventing capitalist culture from spreading.
Unit 114 is made up of officials from the Workers’ Party
Propaganda and Agitation Department and the SSD, who are tasked with special
duties related to surveillance and keeping groups in check. It reflects the
determination to root out past practices in which officials received bribes in
exchange for turning a blind eye towards illicit content.
However, the source speculated this regulation from security
officials will not last long as the North becomes more acquainted with the
capitalist culture and transforms into a society that prioritizes money, rendering state crackdowns useless.
“What do you think cannot be taken care of here [in North
Korea] with bribes, other than issues directly dealt with by the SSD?” the
source asserted. “If you just give it some time, people will be able to watch
South Korean dramas again in exchange for slightly heavier bribes.”
“Party cadres watch dramas from the South more than average
people,” he went on, adding, “They have executed cadres in the past, trying to
make an example out of them, but recently there hasn’t been any news like that,
so it’s likely we’ll see more leniency again.”
North Korea had stepped up its crackdowns on video content
from the South in the recent months after the period drama from the Joseon
Dynasty “Jeongdojeon,” and “Doctor Stranger,” involving a gifted North Korean
defector doctor, became popular. The concern was that information from the
outside world could influence residents and pose a threat to the leadership.
