South Korean media stirs North Koreans to flee

The reality of “hallyu,” or the Korean wave, in North Korea has been revealed by a series of in-depth interviews with North Korean defectors.

In “Hallyu, shaking North Korea,” a recently published book by Korea Institute for National Unification, researchers Kang Dong-wan and Park Jeong-ran analyze the changing perceptions of North Koreans due to their exposure to South Korean visual media.

In in-depth interviews, 33 defectors, selected evenly from each region, were asked how often they watched Korean television or movies. In response, 34 percent said they watched Korean programs everyday and 41 percent answered that they watched once or twice a month.

The most viewed movies were “The General’s Son” (1990), a movie about a street gangster becoming a gang leader during the Japanese colonization period, and “The Hole” (1997), a movie about the conflict between a daughter-in-law and a mother-in-law who is obsessed with her son.

The most popular TV dramas viewed by North Koreans were “Autumn Fairy Tale” (2000) and “Stairways of Heaven” (2003). Korean dramas were received by television near the border region or were smuggled through the black market in the form of a DVD or CD. 

North Korean defectors said they had developed fantasies about South Korea while watching Koreans eat white rice with several side dishes and wear different clothes when leaving home or going to bed.

The defectors pointed to viewing Korean videos as their reason for defection. They said the fear about the South Korean lifestyle had disappeared watching South Korean videos.

The authors of the book say the capitalistic and democratic ideologies portrayed in Koreans’ lives may change the perceptions of North Koreans. “Many of the interviewees answered that they thought the spread of Korean visual media may transform North Korea,” authors said.

By Yun Suh-young (syun@heraldcorp.com)
Intern Reporter