[Focus on the Korean Peninsula] North Koreans "I'm curious about South Korea"... why?

<Anchor>

Let's continue to talk about North Korea with Ahn Jung-sik, a reporter specializing in North Korea.

[Ahn Jung-sik / Reporter Ahn Jung-sik / Reporter specializing in North Korea: Tongil Media, an incorporated organization, conducted a survey on 50 North Korean residents and 100 North Korean defectors between June and August.

I gave a presentation at a seminar on the 18th, and it is said that North Koreans conducted the investigation by phone and defectors in person.

Looking at the contents of the North Korean survey, when asked if they had ever seen South Korean or foreign videos, 49 or 98% of them answered yes, indicating that they still have a high preference for foreign videos.]

[Ahn Jung-sik/Reporter specializing in North Korea: How North Korean private organizations deliver news about North Korea.

I'm talking to the people living in North Korea on the phone.

If you go to North Korea with a Chinese mobile phone, you can make calls to a certain extent because radio waves are not just blocked at the border.

So, calls are being made through Chinese mobile phones that enter through the border between North Korea and China, so you can understand it this way.]

[Ahn Jung-sik/Reporter Ahn Jung-sik/Reporter specializing in North Korea: South Korean and foreign videos are also coming in through the North Korean-Chinese border area.

After watching the South Korean video, the response came out that I began to imitate the South Korean tone, sing South Korean songs, and imitate the South Korean attire.

However, the most frequently answered answer was that it raised questions about South Korean society.

38 people, or 76%, answered this question, but since the North Korean authorities block outside information, the general public doesn't really know how South Korean society works.

However, after watching South Korean videos, interest in South Korean society has increased.

This is the power of culture, and this seems to be the reason why the North Korean authorities are trying to use their flags and block external videos.]

Enlarging an image

[Ahn Jung-sik/Reporter Ahn Jung-sik/Reporter specializing in North Korea: Representatively, in December 2020, North Korea enacted the 'Reactionary Thought and Culture Rejection Act'.

Distributing South Korean videos is a horrific law, punishable by up to the death penalty.

In fact, it is said that the crackdown became more severe after the law was enacted.

In this survey, the response that seeing or hearing foreign information became more dangerous after Kim Jong-un took power was very high.]

[Ahn Jung-sik / Reporter Ahn Jung-sik / Reporter Ahn Jung-sik: We are responding in various ways, such as strengthening the US extended deterrence against North Korea's nuclear weapons, or promoting stronger sanctions on North Korea.

However, if the Korean Wave spreads into North Korea and North Koreans find out that the world is going around, their loyalty to the North Korean regime can be shattered in an instant, so it is very threatening for the North Korean regime.

That's why some people say that the influx of outside information is more powerful than nuclear weapons.

I think we need to think about how we can introduce external information in relation to changes in the North Korean system.]

Enlarging an image