#HALLYU – the Korean Wave, aided by the global technology boom, is changing the face of the reclusive North Korea, says a high-profile defector.

As revealed by former North Korean diplomat Thae Yong-ho recently, this is because the spread of South Korean pop culture among the North’s citizens brings with it a growing influx of information from the outside world.

A strong “influencing agent” according to Thae is South Korean dramas – an increasing number of North Koreans are watching the television series and they are affecting their daily lives.

“It depends on the class, but there is not one North Korean who hasn’t seen (a) South Korean drama or movie as far as I know. It’s no longer easy for the regime to cut off Hallyu,” he notes.

Hallyu or the Korean Wave refers to the popularity of South Korean popular culture, which has grown prominent in other countries, especially in Asia.

Aside from dramas, it includes movies, K-pop and TV variety shows like Running Man, which has an especially large following in Southeast Asian countries.

North Korea, one of the poorest countries in the world, has been controlling the flow of information from the outside world. This is to back its propaganda about the self-proclaimed excellence of the Kim Jong-un regime and the supposed malicious and depraved nature of other countries.

Former North Korean defectors recently testified at a forum in New York that bringing in information from the outside world – which often take place on the sidelines of smuggling – is considered one of the worst crimes in the country.

But technological advances and growth of the black market in the hermit kingdom has made it more difficult to prevent the citizens from accessing outside media. One of the most popular means of enjoying Hallyu is said to be Notetel, a type of portable media player that plays DVDs and enhanced versatile discs. It was legalised in 2014 under the condition that it is limited to certain channels of the regime’s choice.

Thae concedes that any North Korean who works abroad can easily access the internet via smart devices, although the regime urges them not to. They are, however, prevented from conveying the information they learned to others, due to the authorities spying on them upon their return to North Korea. The regime’s control over the internet is crumbling, and Kim knows it, he alleges.

Exposure to South Korean culture is affecting North Korean lives as well.

Says Thae, young North Koreans even talk like South Koreans. Although the two Koreas have the same language, regional dialects and the 66-year separation of the two countries have resulted in their citizens speaking in a very different manner. But the North’s youth now use words like jagiya (honey), oppa (meaning older brother, but often used to refer to a boyfriend or spouse), kkk (the equivalent of LOL, a social media abbreviation for laughing out loud), which do not even exist in the North Korean language, he highlights. Using these words is subject to the authorities crackdown, but according to Thae, it can be fixed by paying certain fees to the authorities.

“North Korea attempts to control its people, but there are two things you just can’t stop: drugs and Hallyu,” he says.

Thae thinks the exposure to South Korean culture is slowly bringing the Kim regime down from the inside.

“The Kim regime appears stable from the outside, but is rotting from the inside. ... We (North Koreans) hail Kim Jong-un during the day and watch South Korean films and dramas at night under blankets,” he shares, adding this is why Kim keeps such close tabs on the country’s elites and executes anyone who falls out of line.

“(I defected because) I was afraid that the slave life will continue until the time of my grandchildren’s children. That’s why I told my family that I am severing the chains the moment I leave the embassy,” he says.