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Since the beginning
of the Kim Jong Eun era in 2011, the North Korean security forces have been trying
to halt inflows of “capitalist culture,” a term that includes the “Korean
Wave” of music, television and film from South Korea. This determined and frequently brutal effort has made it much harder for North Korean civilians to contact external
media, although it is an endeavor that has met with silent resistance.
One interviewee,
a male in his 50s from North Pyongan Province, told Daily NK that people have
been scaling back their access. Nowadays, he said, “They might provide you with
electricity and then an hour later burst in, or there’ll be a sudden knock on
the door and they are there to perform checks.”
“In around May
last year there were executions,” he went on to allege. “One was bringing the stuff in,
and one was selling it. That is what they do if you watch South Chosun films.”
And yet, “I recall that as recently as 2008-2010 everyone was crazy about [South
Korean media]. Youngsters used to gather to watch South Chosun discs, or ones
made in the Yanbian region of China.”
Making her
second trip to China, a 30-something female from Sinuiju described the local
atmosphere there as one in which, “A lot of people have been caught watching
South Chosun television or films. Hwagyo
[overseas Chinese] might watch that stuff a bit, but [ordinary people] don’t now. Some
young people or Party cadres who can avoid the crackdowns may be watching in
secret.”
In
aggregate, the interviewees Daily NK met commented that most North Korean people
will have seen South Korean media of some kind during the late Kim Jong Il
period, when societal controls were relatively relaxed. However, in the early
Kim Jong Eun period the state has been seeking to stamp out potential sources
of systemic instability, and this has taken its toll on the influence of the “Korean
Wave.”
A male in
his 40s from South Hwanghae Province said, “It’s been about a decade now
since South Chosun media started appearing [in North Korea]. Something like
80-90% of Chosun people will have seen something at least once. 30-40% of
people may have seen South Chosun CDs, and around 3-5% watch South Chosun
television regularly.”
A 50-year
old woman who travels regularly between her home in North Pyongan Province and areas of
Hwanghae and Gangwon provinces to trade corroborated the story, saying, “South
Chosun television comes through really well in Haeju, and I recall that when I went to see my relative
in Gowon in Gangwon Province, I said to her, ‘that’s good, you can pick up [a South
Korean television signal],’ and she said back to me, ‘Never, ever say that kind
of thing, no matter where you are.’”
According
to informants, people living in both North and South Hwanghae, Gangwon, and
as far north as the capital, Pyongyang, can pick up a watchable South Korean television
and radio signal if they have a slightly modified antenna.
Two male
interviewees, one from North Pyongan Province and the other from Hwanghae, told
Daily NK that the most impressive South Chosun drama for them was the early
2000s SBS production “Stairway to Heaven,” while figure skater Kim Yeon Ah was also reasonably well known during her career, which recently
came to an end.
A male in
his forties admitted to knowing little about South Korean sportsmen and women,
but, “I know Kim Yeon Ah. Of course I know the ones who are as famous as
her; it’s the ordinary ones I don’t know. They couldn’t have concealed her.”
Naturally,
the decade-long influx of South Korean media has brought change to people’s
awareness of their southern neighbor. Daily NK was once again
able to confirm this.
The 50-year
old male from North Pyongan Province said, “The way we think about South Chosun
has changed a lot while we’ve been watching [television dramas and films]. ‘That small country
is doing well, so why are we like this even though we are part of the same race;’ it’s that kind of thing.”
“I didn’t know about it, but then I found out
from a drama,” South Pyongan Province resident Choi Jin Sook said, explaining
how she became aware of the economic reality on the Korean Peninsula. “I
understand South Chosun, actually, and watching their films is helpful, but you
have to be careful what you say even in People’s Unit meetings and wherever, so
I’d never say anything about it.”
* This article was made
possible by support from the Korea Press Foundation. Names have been changed or removed to
protect the innocent.
