Buzz word in North Korea “MYOB”

The popularity of South Korean pop culture or South Korean Wave is reportedly getting stronger in North Korea. A wave of recent South Korean movies and soap operas made their way into the Hermit Kingdom. Among them was the movie ‘Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.’ A line from the movie – “It is none of your business” – has changed into “Mind your own business,” becoming a buzz word in the North. This is a clear testament to the fact that pop culture from the South is all the rage among North Korean youth. North Korean authorities are reportedly beating their brains to stem the flow of pop culture.

It takes only six months for a South Korean soap opera to reach the Stalinist state. From the mid 1990s, movies and dramas from the South gained popularity in the North. On the strength of an increase in North Korean tourists and peddlers who visited China, movies and dramas that were once popular in the South, such as ‘The General’s Son’ and ‘What is love?’, were viewed and found instant fame.

Nowadays, it is said that South Korean movies and soap operas find their way not only into Pyongyang, but also into Gaesong, Nampo and other border towns, within six to 12 months of their release in the South.

A North Korean defector who came to the South in 2004 said, “With the spread of secondhand, China-made VCRs or DVD players, it is very likely that almost all young people living in border towns, as well as those in Pyongyang, have watched South Korean visual entertainment at least once.

Hanawon, a state-run educational facility for North Korean defectors, said in its 2006 study on 30 defectors, that South Korean pop songs and dramas, including ‘Autumn in My Heart,’ ‘All-in’, and ‘General Lee Soon-shin’ are widely enjoyed, and stars like Bae Yong-jun, Jang Dong-kun, and Kim Hee-sun are widely popular in the North as well as the South.

A government official in Seoul stated that he had heard from a North Korean defector that among young people in North Korea, those who don’t watch movies and dramas from the South even have a hard time hanging out with their friends.

The South Korean Wave has impacted the language, hair styles and fashions of young people in the North.

Among young people in their teens and 20s, the Seoul accent and the latest long-fringe hair style are very popular. Many women in the North wear skinny and ripped jeans, according to the defectors.

To stop the Wave, North Korean officials are trying to re-instill the communist ideology. They have launched a campaign against the Wave, aimed at “Fighting South Korean propaganda,” and “Curbing strange lifestyles.”

On January 25, a North Korean intergovernmental paper, ‘Minju Joseon’, stressed in its editorial, “By stemming the flow of strange and foreign ideologies and lifestyles, the regime will protect its stability and maintain the communist system.”

Reportedly, North Korea prevented 5,000 VCD players, imported from Dandong, China, from reaching its citizens. By mobilizing all of its youth organizations, Pyongyang is cracking down on the Wave. The Seoul official said, “the Pyongyang government seems to think that if more people call for change, the regime will be more likely to collapse. To avoid the meltdown of the regime, North Korea is trying to stabilize the livelihood of its people by channeling more money into its light industries.”

weappon@donga.com