North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently shocked ordinary citizens by using common South Korean words and phrases in a speech to the public. Experts suggest that Kim Jong-un may have been watching South Korean dramas, which is forbidden in North Korea. In the country, ordinary citizens caught watching South Korean dramas could face severe punishment, including the death penalty.
According to Radio Free Asia, a resident from North Hamgyong Province in North Korea informed the radio station that Kim Jong-un used South Korean expressions during his visit to the flood-affected areas near the Yalu River earlier this month. For instance, he referred to the people as “people” instead of the commonly used term in communist countries, “comrades.” Words like “elderly people” and “television” were also used in a South Korean manner.
He told the disaster victims that they were “navigating through rugged terrain” rather than being in the more commonly used North Korean expression of “difficult and exhausting circumstances.” The North Hamgyong resident said, “What surprised people the most was not the content of Kim Jong-un’s speech but the South Korean language he used.”
Experts speculate that Kim Jong-un’s use of these South Korean terms suggests that he may have been exposed to South Korean media, despite it being banned in North Korea. Defectors from North Korea cited by the South Korean newspaper, Dong-A Ilbo, mentioned that even defectors who had lived in Seoul for many years struggled to discard the dialects and phrases they used in North Korea. Kim Jong-un’s natural use of these phrases clearly indicates the influence of South Korean media on him.
Several defectors noted that in North Korea, the higher one’s status, the more openly they watch South Korean dramas or movies.
An official from the South Korean Unification Ministry mentioned in an interview with the South Korean NewsPim agency that Kim Jong-un might have been subtly influenced by monitoring South Korean media reports, leading to his natural use of South Korean terms and concepts. Kim Jong-un has abandoned the title of “Chairman of the National Defence Commission” previously used by his father, Kim Jong-il, and now uses the title of “Chairman of the State Affairs Commission.”
Radio Free Asia pointed out that the language differences between North Korea and South Korea are not merely regional but are also a result of the different standardized policies adopted by the two governments, causing variations in spelling and vocabulary. Specifically, the closed-off nature of North Korea makes it less inclined to adopt foreign languages compared to the more open South Korea.
Previously reported by Epoch Times, North Korea prohibits its citizens from engaging with South Korean culture, including movies, dramas, music, books, and photos. Even actions like drinking from a wine glass or wearing sunglasses are deemed “reactionary” and face severe punishment.
Based on the “Counteraction Against Reactionary Thought and Culture Law” enacted in December 2020, North Korea implements strict penalties. The law stipulates that those spreading South Korean films could face the death penalty, viewers could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison, and using a South Korean accent or singing style could result in 2 years of labor correction.
Last month, over thirty North Korean high school students were publicly executed for watching South Korean dramas. The students found USB drives containing South Korean dramas inside propaganda balloons sent by South Korean defector groups to North Korea. The harsh punishment was imposed on these students for watching the dramas from the USB drives.