A phone smuggled out of North Korea has offered startling insights on how the highly secretive country, led by Kim Jong Un, has a strict ban on all things South Korean and how it enforces extreme censorship across all types of media to keep its citizens from knowing what the outside world is really like. The country's "supreme leader" maintains the restrictions to protect North Koreans from the “malign influence” of Western culture.
From automatically changing certain South Korean words to regularly sharing user data with the authorities, a BBC report shows how North Korea uses smartphones to watch and control its people, even though they are completely cut off from the internet.
For example, the word "Oppa", which is popular in South Korean culture and often used for boyfriends (though it literally means "older brother"), is autocorrected to "Comrade" on the North Korean smartphone. Immediately, a warning pops up right below the keypad telling users that "this word can only be used to refer to siblings."
Similarly, if someone tries to type "South Korea," the phone autocorrects it to "Puppet State"--a term North Korea uses for South Korea, claiming it's controlled by the US. The smartphone also secretly takes screenshots every five minutes, but the images are not accessible to the users. Only the authorities can access them, allowing them to keep a close eye on everything users do, the BBC reported.
A recent report revealed that under Kim Jong Un, efforts to suppress “Western influence” and block outside information have intensified. Officials regularly inspect mobile phones for suspicious contact names, language, and slang linked to South Korean culture. A 2024 human rights report by South Korea’s Unification Ministry revealed that North Korean authorities publicly executed a 22-year-old man for listening to and sharing K-pop music and films. The man was killed in 2022 for listening to 70 South Korean songs and watching three films, which he then distributed, thus violating a North Korean law adopted in 2020 that bans “reactionary ideology and culture”.
History of North Korea's ban on K-pop
The roots of North Korea's ban on K-pop trace back to Kim Jong Il, who sought to shield citizens from what he deemed the “malign influence” of Western culture. This stance hardened under his son, Kim Jong Un, who in 2020 enacted a law prohibiting “reactionary ideology and culture.”
The unification ministry’s report draws on testimonies from 649 North Korean defectors, providing a comprehensive view of the regime’s oppressive measures. One anonymous source detailed the harrowing circumstances leading to the young man's execution.
North Korean authorities, according to the report, are intensely focused on controlling youth behaviour and eliminating any traces of foreign influence. This includes a crackdown on “capitalist” fashion and hairstyles, targeting items like skinny jeans, T-shirts with foreign slogans, and dyed or long hair. Even seemingly benign practices like wearing sunglasses or drinking from wine glasses are deemed reactionary and are punishable offenses.
Despite the condemnation, North Korea continues to dismiss international condemnation of its human rights record, calling all criticisms conspiracies designed to destabilise its government.
Popularity of K-pop, K-drama in North Korea
The harsh measures may have deterred North Koreans from consuming K-pop and K-drama, but have not been able to stop them. “The speed of South Korean culture influencing North Korea is seriously fast. Young people follow and copy South Korean culture, and they really love anything South Korean,” a woman in her early 20s who defected from North Korea told reporters at a briefing in Seoul, The Guardian reported in 2024.
"After watching Korean dramas, many young people wonder, ‘Why do we have to live like this?’ … I thought I’d rather die than live in North Korea,” she said, adding that there is a growing resentment against the regime.
“Of course, we cannot say anything bad against Kim Jong-un publicly, but among close friends, lovers or family members, we do say those words,” the woman, who escaped from North Korea on a wooden boat in October 2023, said.
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