While North Korea remains the most closed country in the outside world and with very strong censorship, some brave the prohibitions, and manage to obtain South Korean series. But what do these series consist of, and why were they viewed by 83% of North Korean defectors?
A window on the outside world
Since the COVVI-19 crisis, the number of North Koreans managing to flee from their southern neighbor has dropped considerably, from 202 in 2019, to 23 in 2023, proof of the hardening of measures to prevent any flight from the country. Watching a foreign series is punished in Northern Korea of death penalty, like a young 22-year-old North Korean peasant who had been performed for listening to 70 South Korean songs as well as watched several films.
The series most consumed by the North Korean are the K-Dramas, South Korean series, series similar to series like Desperate Housewives in the background, which are generally spanning no more than a season. The latter often put the stories of love, like ” Crash landing on you“, Love story between a South Korean heiress, and a North Korean soldier. North Koreans see free people there, freely express their love and it is a message that finds a very strong echo in a very closed, censored society. “” They may not say it forget, but I didn’t know anyone who was not watching foreign videos. ” Kang Gyu-Ri, North Korean defector.
They hide USB keys under boards or in walls, all for a few episodes. And while we zap between three platforms, they risk camp years for a Korean drama. There is a force in there, a thirst for silent, almost desperate freedom, which says more than a thousand slogans.
Why take such a risk?
These series are much more than a hobby. It’s a window. A tiny hole in the propaganda wall. They show them a world where people fall in love without being afraid, where you can laugh hard, argue, cry, choose your job, your way of dressing, even your way of living. A world where you can be yourself without risking losing everything. It seems banal for us, but there, it’s revolutionary. These fictions refer another image of life to them, another image of South Korea too – not that painted as decadent or corrupt in official speeches, but a modern, living, free society. And sometimes, it only takes a single episode to sow a doubt, a seed. An idea that does not fade. So yes, it’s risky, but when your daily life is made of control, fear and silence, sometimes a little dream is worth more than your own security. And this dream, he goes through a hidden USB key, a black and white screen, and a few hours stolen at night.
