Kim Jong Un is forbidden to speak the South Korean dialect
North Korean President.
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South Korean rapper Sai.
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North Korean President Kim Jong Un has banned bringing books, music, movies and TV series from South Korea to curb the influence of his democratic neighbor on his country, and now he has issued an order banning slang used by South Koreans.
Documents obtained by dissident organizations from the north and now operating in the south reveal that the North Korean government has imposed prison terms of 15 years on everyone who is arrested while watching, listening, or possessing films, songs, books and South Korean artworks.
And anyone who prints a text in South Korean handwriting, may be punished with hard work for two years.
In leaked statements from classified documents, Kim says, "We must severely eliminate the phrases (dolls) and the style of (dolls) in our society," referring to the phrase that North Korea describes its South Korean neighbor as a "puppet of the United States."
Despite strict censorship and propaganda not to engage with South Korea, North Koreans have increasingly interacted with South Korean culture in the past decade.
They can watch South Korean content on cell phones, and smugglers and activists bring movies, series, and news programs onto memory cards.
During the three-quarters of a century since the split of the two Koreas, the two dialects diverged in both the North and the South, but the popularity of South Korean dramas affected the North's accent.
In a document obtained by the "Remgin-Gang" website, Kim expressed his displeasure at two wonderful expressions: "opa" and "dong saeng," which mean older brother and younger sister, and are used by friends, or when flirting.
A form of the phrase "opa" appears in the chorus of the hit song "Gangnam Style," by South Korean rapper Sai.
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