After winning fans around the world, South Korean pop culture has entered North Korea, where its growing influence has prompted the leader of the totalitarian state to declare a new culture war to stop it
People walk past banners showing Jimin, a member of K-pop group BTS, at a shopping district in Seoul
Image: Jung Yeon-je / AFP
SEOUL — Kim Jong Un called it a “vicious cancer” corrupting young North Koreans’ “attire, hairstyles, speeches, behaviors.” His state media has warned that if left unchecked, it would make North Korea “crumble like a damp wall.”
After winning fans around the world, South Korean pop culture has entered the final frontier: North Korea, where its growing influence has prompted the leader of the totalitarian state to declare a new culture war to stop it. But even a dictator may have trouble holding back the tide.
In recent months, hardly a day has gone by without Kim or state media railing against “anti-socialist and nonsocialist” influences spreading in his country, especially South Korean movies, K-dramas and K-pop videos. As part of a panicked attempt to reassert control, Kim has ordered his government to stamp out the cultural invasion.
The censorship is anything but a peevish dictator’s tantrum. It comes at a time when the North’s economy is floundering and its diplomacy with the West has stalled, perhaps leaving the country’s youth more receptive to outside influence and challenging Kim’s firm grip on North Korean society.
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