Unification Media Group (UMG): In an August 2010 video obtained by Daily NK (above), the manager of a restaurant in the Moran Exhibition Hall in Pyongyang was seen performing “Maze of Love” on acoustic guitar for customers. It’s being reported that an old South Korean hit song is becoming popular in North Korea these days. For more, we turn to reporter Seol Song Ah.
Seol Song Ah (Seol): The 1984 hit song “To J” by South Korean artist Lee Sun Hee is finding a new audience in the North after the Samjiyon Orchestra performed the song during one of their performances in South Korea. The event has since been widely covered by the South Korean media. I spoke with a person in North Pyongan Province on February 20 who said that she saw the media coverage of the event, but that “To J” was a new song for her, and she wanted to learn it.
As we know, many people in North Korea are able to secretly view South Korean media. The power of media and the speed at which it spreads is truly astounding.
This kind of music is undoubtedly making an impression on many in North Korea, and the song is especially gaining popularity among married women, similar to when the song ‘Maze of Love’ became popular in Pyongyang in the 1990s. Despite government restrictions, the way people feel about singing South Korean songs is changing.
UMG: How did most North Koreans feel about South Korean music in the past?
Seol: There have been a few songs that were quite popular from the 90s, include “Maze of Love” by Choi Jin Hee, “I’m Yours” by Kim Soo Hee, and “You’ll Never Know” by Fin.KL. The Samjiyon Orchestra also played “Maze of Love,” and I have memories of the song, too. In 1991, I was invited to Pyongyang for a Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist Youth League meeting, where I stayed in a dormitory with other youth who were from the city. I remember having a crush on a young cadre there who was singing and playing “Maze of Love” on acoustic guitar.
Although we were unfamiliar with the South Korean pop music style, it was easy to follow along, and you could learn it after hearing it just a few times. After I started working at a factory, I began singing that song during break time. A lot of people taught it to others, who didn’t know it was a South Korean song. By 1995, from the city to the countryside, everyone was singing it.
UMG: How were things in the 2000s?
Seol: South Korean dramas and movies exploded onto the scene in the 2000s, and their soundtracks became popular as well. One hugely popular song was “I Miss You” by Kim Bum Soo (from the drama “Stairway to Heaven”). Another one was “A Letter from a Private” by Kim Kwang Seok, from the movie JSA (Joint Security Area). Some songs even came out on CD after appearing on the “Pyongyang Singing Contest” program on television, including “Four Beats” by Song Dae Kwan and ‘We Meet Again’ by Joo Hyun Mi.
In the 2010s, people began singing Psy’s “Gangnam Style” and even changed the lyrics to “Pyongyang Style.” Young middle and high school students also really loved songs like “Bingo” by Turtles, which even in the Korean title uses the English word “bingo.”
UMG: Does that mean that the North Korean authorities have not been able to fully enforce crackdowns on South Korean media?
Seol: That’s correct. And these days, elite middle and high school students carry around digital USB media players, so they can listen to South Korean music through their headphones while they walk around town.
One defector named Lee, who defected just last year (in 2017), told me how there was a woman in her 40s who ran a shop she frequented, and who had ten South Korean songs on her phone that she would listen to all the time. Some of the songs she mentioned were “I’m Sorry to Love You” by Song Dae Kwan, “Ok Kyung I” by Tae Jin Ah, “Journey” by Choi Jin Hee, and “Fix My Makeup” by Wax.
The woman’s husband was also apparently a central party cadre. Lee said she thinks that “the richer and more politically-connected you get, the more you come to enjoy South Korean music.”
UMG: Why do you think South Korean songs are so popular among North Koreans?
Seol: Well, as many listeners of this program (being broadcast into North Korea) will agree with, and as many defectors have said after arriving in the South, it’s because they feel that it “heals the soul.” Music should inherently stir a person’s emotions, but music in North Korea is officially acceptable only as a tool of the regime, and so singers are not able to reach the same emotional level (that is possible with free expression). North Korean movies and music are all the same – stiff and unenjoyable.
The source in North Pyongan Province told me a joke (a play on words) over the phone recently which really made me laugh. She said, “Here, there are no songs without the Suryong (leader, Kim Jong Un), but in South Korea, there are no songs without Sarang (love).” This may only be the opinion of one person in North Korea, but it’s significant because it shows how all humans are inherently emotional beings.
Listening to South Korean music for North Koreans can be a really life-changing experience. When a person truly loses themselves in a song, they can feel like they’re being transported elsewhere. There are North Koreans, right now as we speak, singing South Korean songs by themselves, laughing and crying. When times are tough, these songs can cheer them up and be a sanctuary, even for cadres.
UMG: I can see why Lee Sun Hee’s ‘To J’ has become so popular now.
Seol: Yes, I think that “To J” makes people feel nostalgic for their past, drawing out their personal memories. The lyrics go, “J, the path we walked together. J, the path in our memories. I walk it alone tonight.” It’s a song about the pain of loving someone you can’t be with.
But there is a trend today where more and more women in cities are choosing not to get married, but that doesn’t mean that they’ve given up on love. So ‘To J’ really strikes a chord for them in these difficult times. It’s drawing out dormant emotions. I hope that these songs are able to spread and touch more and more people in North Korea.
UMG: But if these South Korean songs carry information or meanings that contradict the North Korean political system, and they are being spread so openly, what kind of effect will this have on the system?
Seol: Some other South Korean songs appeared on North Korean state media in the mid-2000s, including “Rocky Island” by Kim Won Jung, “Arirang Alone” by Song So Hee, and “Morning Dew” by Kim Min Ki and Yang Hee Eun. “Morning Dew” became a favorite, and people who were touched by the lyrics compared their sorrows to the ‘beading dew’ building up each morning. The song was subsequently banned.
In the eyes of the North Korean authorities, a South Korean song poses more of a threat to them than a gun. After all, the regime sees an unenlightened population as easier to control. Even the South Korean birthday song threatens to diminish the status of Kim Jong Un as the “protector of all people.” The regime must understand that their brainwashing education no longer works.
