Sinuiju authorities are once again intensifying crackdowns on young people who use the South Korean language or wear South Korean-style clothing, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in North Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Wednesday that the city’s authorities have recently stepped up crackdowns on “young people who wear clothes that don’t fit the socialist lifestyle or use South Korean speech.”
He added that with the end of school vacation, “universities have formed enforcement teams and are cracking down on students’ clothing and South Korean speech as they leave school.”
North Korean enforcement teams use scissors to cut up the clothes of young people caught wearing “capitalist-style” fashions and shame people caught in crackdowns in struggle sessions. The authorities also inform the workplaces of parents whose children have been caught up in the crackdowns.
In the first week of the new school year, the city’s schools emphasized that students “would be severely punished if they were caught talking like the puppets [South Koreans] or imitating them.”
The source said that young people go through the motions to conform to the government’s demands but inwardly show disdain toward the crackdowns.
North Korea considers inappropriate clothing or hairstyles or the use of the South Korean language to be anti-socialist or non-socialist behavior, and students who flagrantly break the rules are severely punished. Despite the crackdowns, young people’s desire for South Korean-style clothing and speech persists, according to the source.
“They say girls can’t call their boyfriends oppa [older brother], but hardly any young people call each other ‘comrade’ as the state dictates,” the source said. “South Korean culture has taken such deep root among the youth that crackdowns and restrictions can’t stop it.”
If Kim Ju Ae can do it, why can’t I?
Young people have become increasingly dissatisfied and rebellious as they compare themselves to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s daughter, Kim Ju Ae, who has recently made frequent media appearances, the source further reported.
“Many young people say it’s ridiculous to see [Kim Ju Ae] dressed in luxurious foreign-made clothes. Young people say that [the leaders] should first wear domestically made clothes themselves before telling them to change their clothing styles.
“The authorities will likely intensify their crackdown on South Korean culture this year as they’ve continued to stress that South Korea is an enemy country since the beginning of the year. However, they’ll have a hard time eliminating the desire by young people to imitate South Korean culture.”
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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