Since its establishment in 1948, the authoritarian government of North Korea has rigorously restricted the inflow of any external information that could potentially undermine its stability and authority. Individuals disseminating messages considered to be divergent from the regime’s totalitarian principles have consistently faced the risk of punishment under its publication law and administrative regulations. Consequently, when North Korea implemented the “anti-reactionary thought law” in 2020, specifically targeting South Korean cultural content, it did not raise many eyebrows initially.
Fast forward nearly three years, and Seoul has issued its inaugural official statement urging Pyongyang to repeal the so-called “K-pop ban.” This appeal came shortly after a meeting with journalists, during which South Korean Unification Minister Lee In-young revealed that his ministry would adopt a more assertive stance on human rights issues concerning the North. This includes openly and proactively criticizing policies like the K-pop ban.
Implemented in December 2020, the law bans the production, distribution, and consumption of any content perceived as a threat to the North Korean system, stipulating that violators may face over a decade of hard labor in severe cases. However, human rights experts assert that the actual consequences are even more draconian than the law suggests. Based on accounts from North Korean defectors, watching a South Korean movie for just a few hours could result in a life sentence, while distributors face the possibility of execution. The regime has intensified its crackdowns to unprecedented levels in recent years, indicating the growing impact of South Korean culture in the North, as noted by a researcher in an interview with The Korea Times.
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