Since the beginning

of the Kim Jong Eun era in 2011, the North Korean security forces have been trying

to halt inflows of “capitalist culture,” a term that includes the “Korean

Wave” of music, television and film from South Korea. This determined and frequently brutal effort has made it much harder for North Korean civilians to contact external

media, although it is an endeavor that has met with silent resistance.

One interviewee,

a male in his 50s from North Pyongan Province, told Daily NK that people have

been scaling back their access. Nowadays, he said, “They might provide you with

electricity and then an hour later burst in, or there’ll be a sudden knock on

the door and they are there to perform checks.”

“In around May

last year there were executions,” he went on to allege. “One was bringing the stuff in,

and one was selling it. That is what they do if you watch South Chosun films.”

And yet, “I recall that as recently as 2008-2010 everyone was crazy about [South

Korean media]. Youngsters used to gather to watch South Chosun discs, or ones

made in the Yanbian region of China.”

Making her

second trip to China, a 30-something female from Sinuiju described the local

atmosphere there as one in which, “A lot of people have been caught watching

South Chosun television or films. Hwagyo

[overseas Chinese] might watch that stuff a bit, but [ordinary people] don’t now. Some

young people or Party cadres who can avoid the crackdowns may be watching in

secret.”

In

aggregate, the interviewees Daily NK met commented that most North Korean people

will have seen South Korean media of some kind during the late Kim Jong Il

period, when societal controls were relatively relaxed. However, in the early

Kim Jong Eun period the state has been seeking to stamp out potential sources

of systemic instability, and this has taken its toll on the influence of the “Korean

Wave.”

A male in

his 40s from South Hwanghae Province said, “It’s been about a decade now

since South Chosun media started appearing [in North Korea]. Something like

80-90% of Chosun people will have seen something at least once. 30-40% of

people may have seen South Chosun CDs, and around 3-5% watch South Chosun

television regularly.”

A 50-year

old woman who travels regularly between her home in North Pyongan Province and areas of

Hwanghae and Gangwon provinces to trade corroborated the story, saying, “South

Chosun television comes through really well in Haeju, and I recall that when I went to see my relative

in Gowon in Gangwon Province, I said to her, ‘that’s good, you can pick up [a South

Korean television signal],’ and she said back to me, ‘Never, ever say that kind

of thing, no matter where you are.’”

According

to informants, people living in both North and South Hwanghae, Gangwon, and

as far north as the capital, Pyongyang, can pick up a watchable South Korean television

and radio signal if they have a slightly modified antenna.

Two male

interviewees, one from North Pyongan Province and the other from Hwanghae, told

Daily NK that the most impressive South Chosun drama for them was the early

2000s SBS production “Stairway to Heaven,” while figure skater Kim Yeon Ah was also reasonably well known during her career, which recently

came to an end.

A male in

his forties admitted to knowing little about South Korean sportsmen and women,

but, “I know Kim Yeon Ah. Of course I know the ones who are as famous as

her; it’s the ordinary ones I don’t know. They couldn’t have concealed her.”

Naturally,

the decade-long influx of South Korean media has brought change to people’s

awareness of their southern neighbor. Daily NK was once again

able to confirm this.

The 50-year

old male from North Pyongan Province said, “The way we think about South Chosun

has changed a lot while we’ve been watching [television dramas and films]. ‘That small country

is doing well, so why are we like this even though we are part of the same race;’ it’s that kind of thing.”

“I didn’t know about it, but then I found out

from a drama,” South Pyongan Province resident Choi Jin Sook said, explaining

how she became aware of the economic reality on the Korean Peninsula. “I

understand South Chosun, actually, and watching their films is helpful, but you

have to be careful what you say even in People’s Unit meetings and wherever, so

I’d never say anything about it.”

* This article was made

possible by support from the Korea Press Foundation. Names have been changed or removed to

protect the innocent.