Kim Jong-un Calls K-Pop a 'Vicious Cancer' in the New Culture War

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, Newser, the clickbait site

Kim Jong Un Has a Problem With K-Pop

'New York Times' reports the North Korean leader has called it a 'vicious cancer'

By Kate Seamons, Newser Staff
Posted Jun 11, 2021 7:51 AM CDT

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Kim Jong-un Calls K-Pop a ‘Vicious Cancer’ in the New Culture War

South Korean music, movies and dramas are winning the hearts of young North Koreans. Their influence is seen as a threat to Mr. Kim’s grip on society.

By Choe Sang-Hun

Published June 10, 2021
Updated June 11, 2021, 9:47 a.m. ET

SEOUL — Kim Jong-un called it a “vicious cancer” corrupting young North Koreans’ “attire, hairstyles, speeches, behaviors.” His state media has warned that if left unchecked, it would make North Korea “crumble like a damp wall.” ... After winning fans around the world, South Korean pop culture has entered the final frontier: North Korea, where its growing influence has prompted the leader of the totalitarian state to declare a new culture war to stop it. But even a dictator may have trouble holding back the tide.

In recent months, hardly a day has gone by without Mr. Kim or state media railing against “anti-socialist and nonsocialist” influences spreading in his country, especially South Korean movies, K-dramas and K-pop videos. As part of a panicked attempt to reassert control, Mr. Kim has ordered his government to stamp out the cultural invasion.

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North Korean state propaganda had long described South Korea as a living hell crawling with beggars. Through the K-dramas, first smuggled on tapes and CDs, young North Koreans learned that while they struggled to find enough food to eat during a famine, people in the South were going on diets to lose weight. ... South Korean entertainment is now smuggled on flash drives from China, stealing the hearts of young North Koreans who watch behind closed doors and draped windows.

Its presence has become so concerning that North Korea enacted a new law last December to address it. The law calls for five to 15 years in labor camps for people who watch or possess South Korean entertainment, according to lawmakers in Seoul who were briefed by government intelligence officials, and internal North Korean documents smuggled out by Daily NK, a Seoul-based website. The previous maximum punishment for such crimes was five years of hard labor. ... Those who put material in the hands of North Koreans can face even stiffer punishments, including the death penalty. The new law also calls for up to two years of hard labor for those who “speak, write or sing in South Korean style.”

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[soryang]

1. This is why US denial of South Korean initiatives with the North is misguided

The South Koreans are more likely to erode totalitarian standards in the North than US restraints on those actions. The South is also in a better position to decide time, place and manner, of initiatives toward or with the North, whether they be economic, humanitarian, cultural, or diplomatic than the US.

The South knows what to do, and how to balance security against PR efforts but the US spends a great deal of effort criticizing them on VOA and RFA.

This cultural divide with the totalitarian regime in the north is one of long standing. That said, Daily NK is not that reliable a source. This is kind of a mom and apple pie issue on Kpop, and Kdrama usb files that everyone pretty much agrees on, except for the flying balloons over the DMZ, JSA with those contents.