North Korea is conducting a widespread crackdown on anything deemed to be influenced by South Korea, including fashion, music, and language, according to a new report released by South Korea's Unification Ministry
The report, based on the testimony of 649 North Korean defectors, reveals that searches of homes have increased since 2021, with officials looking for signs of outside culture.
Signs are said to include wearing a white wedding dress or the groom lifting the bride on his back, or drinking alcohol from wine glasses – all seen as South Korean customs. People's phones are also being searched and checked for slang from South Korea in messages and contacts, it adds.
While both Koreas share the same language, subtle differences have emerged since the division after the Korean war of 1950–53.
The report states that certain fashion items, such as sunglasses, have been deemed counter-revolutionary, despite North Korean leader Kim Jong Un being known to wear them. His father, however, also labelled certain everyday clothes items as counter-revolutionary - including jeans.
The punishment for these infractions is unclear, but the crackdown on South Korean-made culture appears severe. A 2020 law made watching or distributing South Korean entertainment punishable by death.
The report details the case of a young man from South Hwanghae province who was publicly executed in 2022 for listening to 70 South Korean songs, watching three films, and distributing them. This fell foul of the 2020 law banning "reactionary ideology and culture".
Experts say that allowing South Korean popular culture to seep into North Korean society could pose a threat to the ideology that demands absolute loyalty to the "infallible" Kim dynasty, which has ruled the country since its founding in 1948.
The South Korean report has been released at a time of increasing tensions between the neighbouring countries.
In recent weeks, North Korea has sent thousands of balloons over the border containing waste, retaliating against the launch of balloons from the South whose cargo includes anti-Pyongyang leaflets, dollar bills, and USB sticks loaded with K-pop and K-dramas.
