Report Details Execution of North Korean Man Over K-pop

A recent report on North Korean human rights has unveiled the execution of a 22-year-old man for watching and sharing South Korean films and K-pop music.

The 2024 Report on North Korean Human Rights, released by South Korea’s unification ministry, compiles testimonies from 649 defectors, painting a grim picture of life under Kim Jong-un’s regime.

According to the report, the young man from South Hwanghae province was executed publicly in 2022 for possessing and distributing 70 South Korean songs and three films. This act violated a North Korean law adopted in 2020, which bans “reactionary ideology and culture.”

The report highlights North Korea’s aggressive measures to prevent the infiltration of outside information, with a particular focus on the youth.

Authorities are known to punish “reactionary” practices, which include adopting South Korean customs such as brides wearing white dresses, grooms carrying the bride, wearing sunglasses, or drinking alcohol from wine glasses.

Mobile phones are frequently inspected for South Korean influences, including contact names, expressions, and slang terms.

Although both Koreas share the same language, subtle differences have emerged since the division after the Korean War of 1950–53.

The crackdown on K-pop and other cultural imports is part of a broader campaign initiated by former leader Kim Jong-il and intensified under his son, Kim Jong-un.

This campaign aims to shield North Koreans from the “malign” influence of Western culture. In 2022, Radio Free Asia, a US government-funded organisation, reported that the regime was targeting “capitalist” fashion and hairstyles, including skinny jeans, T-shirts with foreign words, and dyed or long hair.

Experts suggest that the penetration of South Korean popular culture into North Korean society could undermine the regime’s ideology, which demands absolute loyalty to the Kim dynasty. Despite the harsh measures, South Korean cultural influence appears to be spreading rapidly.

A recent defector noted, “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.”

Even with the border to China largely sealed off due to the Covid-19 pandemic, information continues to trickle into North Korea through informal networks.

Recently, North Korea retaliated against the launch of balloons from the South carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets, dollar bills, and USB sticks loaded with K-pop and K-dramas by sending thousands of balloons containing waste across the border.

A defector who escaped North Korea on a wooden boat last October highlighted the hidden resentment against the regime. She shared that many young people question their way of life after watching South Korean dramas, thinking, “Why do we have to live like this?” She added, “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.”

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