{"id":323682,"date":"2026-04-01T17:19:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T08:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=323682"},"modified":"2026-04-07T13:37:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T04:37:04","slug":"crackdowns-cant-kill-k-pop-bts-fandom-thrives-in-north-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/crackdowns-cant-kill-k-pop-bts-fandom-thrives-in-north-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"Crackdowns can&#8217;t kill K-pop: BTS fandom thrives in North Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">North Korea&#8217;s crackdown on South Korean pop culture has done little to dim young North Koreans&#8217; enthusiasm for BTS, with sources inside the country reporting that the globally popular K-pop group has become so embedded in youth culture that those unfamiliar with them risk being labeled out of touch by their peers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">According to a Daily NK source inside North Korea, BTS has worked its way into daily life among young people not only in border regions but in the capital, Pyongyang, where being unaware of the group is enough to leave someone on the outside of peer conversations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">While North Korean fans know they like BTS and some even understand the word &#8220;fan&#8221; in its international sense, most are unaware that the group&#8217;s official fandom is called ARMY, the source said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">&#8220;Some young people started liking them after actually hearing the music, while others became interested after hearing about them from peers,&#8221; the source said. &#8220;A lot of them quietly talk among themselves about things like the members&#8217; looks and dancing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"><strong>Coded language keeps BTS fandom alive<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Rather than abandon their interest under intensified surveillance, young North Koreans have adapted, developing slang to discuss BTS without drawing official attention. Instead of using the group&#8217;s full name, which could attract scrutiny from authorities, they refer to the group as &#8220;Bangdan&#8221; or &#8220;BT.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">&#8220;Young people these days don&#8217;t stop talking about South Korean singers just because crackdowns have gotten stricter,&#8221; the source said. &#8220;They just change the way they say things so that only they understand. They often call Bangtan Sonyeondan &#8216;Bangdan&#8217; or &#8216;BT&#8217; instead of saying the full name.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Phrases like &#8220;Bangdan&#8217;s songs are so good&#8221; or &#8220;I want to see BT in person&#8221; have become common ways of expressing fandom while avoiding detection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">The coded language reflects the dangerous legal environment young North Koreans navigate. The Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Law, enacted in 2020, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/crushing-dissent-north-korea-anti-reactionary-thought-law-effect-daily-life\/\">bans<\/a> the consumption and distribution of music, videos, and publications from South Korea and other countries deemed hostile to the state. Penalties can reach the death penalty for serious violations. Since the law took effect, authorities have broadened enforcement to target even South Korean speech patterns and expressions, with young people bearing the brunt of the campaign.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Despite the crackdown, appetite for South Korean content has not faded. Most young North Koreans access BTS music, photos, and videos through USB drives and SD cards loaded with outside media that circulate informally. In some border areas where South Korean television signals bleed across the frontier, young people have reportedly watched BTS content directly on their TV sets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Daily NK asked multiple young North Koreans, through the source, why they like BTS. &#8220;The songs are good, the dancing is attractive, and the way they style their hair and clothes is polished and cool in a way that&#8217;s hard to pull off here,&#8221; they said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Young people added that even middle school students are not only drawn to BTS music and choreography but want to dress and style themselves like the members. &#8220;Boys want to look like BT, and girls dream of dating someone like BT,&#8221; they said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Favorite tracks cited included &#8220;I&#8217;m Fine,&#8221; &#8220;Go Go,&#8221; &#8220;Danger,&#8221; and &#8220;Spring Day.&#8221; When asked which member they liked most, several names came up, including RM, Jimin, and Jungkook. Notably, young North Koreans refer to RM by his legal name, Kim Nam-jun, and use the Korean word &#8220;jojang&#8221; (group leader) rather than the English loanword &#8220;leader,&#8221; reflecting North Korea&#8217;s broader push to limit foreign language use in everyday speech.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">When asked what they would do if they lived somewhere they could freely listen to music and follow artists, their answers were straightforward: go to a concert, play recordings as loud as they wanted and copy the dances, dress up like the members, or meet them in person and take photos.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20260331-5\/\">Read in Korean<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<!-- Daily NK \u2014 A Note to Readers \u2014 End of Article Pattern -->\n<div style=\"background:#1a1a1a;border-top:3px solid #cc0000;padding:0;margin-top:32px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;\">\n  <div style=\"padding:20px 24px 24px;\">\n\n    <!-- Header row -->\n    <div style=\"display:flex;align-items:center;gap:12px;margin-bottom:14px;\">\n      <span style=\"background:#cc0000;color:#fff;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:9px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.15em;text-transform:uppercase;padding:3px 8px;flex-shrink:0;\">A Note to Readers<\/span>\n      <div style=\"flex:1;height:1px;background:#333;\"><\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <!-- Intro line -->\n    <p style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:15px;color:#fff;font-weight:normal;line-height:1.4;margin:0 0 12px;\">Reporting from inside North Korea<\/p>\n\n    <!-- Body -->\n    <p style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:13px;color:#bbb;line-height:1.75;margin:0 0 16px;\">\n      Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information through secure channels. 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According to a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":323683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,1360],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-323682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-society"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Crackdowns can&#039;t kill K-pop: BTS fandom thrives in North Korea - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/crackdowns-cant-kill-k-pop-bts-fandom-thrives-in-north-korea\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crackdowns can&#039;t kill K-pop: BTS fandom thrives in North Korea\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"North Korea&#8217;s crackdown on South Korean pop culture has done little to dim young North Koreans&#8217; enthusiasm for BTS, with sources inside the country reporting that the globally popular K-pop group has become so embedded in youth culture that those unfamiliar with them risk being labeled out of touch by their peers. According to a [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/crackdowns-cant-kill-k-pop-bts-fandom-thrives-in-north-korea\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-01T08:19:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-07T04:37:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/20260321_hya_\ubc29\ud0c4\uc18c\ub144\ub2e8.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"741\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"494\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Seulkee Jang\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Seulkee Jang\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/crackdowns-cant-kill-k-pop-bts-fandom-thrives-in-north-korea\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/crackdowns-cant-kill-k-pop-bts-fandom-thrives-in-north-korea\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Seulkee Jang\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/194958ce83d17408851c1d378fa83857\"},\"headline\":\"Crackdowns can&#8217;t kill K-pop: BTS fandom thrives in North Korea\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-01T08:19:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-07T04:37:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/crackdowns-cant-kill-k-pop-bts-fandom-thrives-in-north-korea\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":661,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/crackdowns-cant-kill-k-pop-bts-fandom-thrives-in-north-korea\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/20260321_hya_\ubc29\ud0c4\uc18c\ub144\ub2e8.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Society\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/crackdowns-cant-kill-k-pop-bts-fandom-thrives-in-north-korea\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/crackdowns-cant-kill-k-pop-bts-fandom-thrives-in-north-korea\\\/\",\"name\":\"Crackdowns can't kill K-pop: BTS fandom thrives in North Korea - 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