South Korean media reach deeper into North Korean society.
“The notion of what makes you a chon-nom (“country bumpkin”) in North Korea has really changed,” says Lee Han-byul, a refugee from Hoeryong, North Hamgyong province, who left the country in 2010.
“In the past, the term was used to mock young people living in the provinces,” she says. “But now it’s less so much where you live, but more about how familiar you are with culture outside the country that makes you a chon-nom.”
Han-byul suggests that South Korean dramas are so embedded in the consciousness of ordinary people that “while there are those who may never have had the chance to watch one, you will be hard pressed to find those who have watched one once and don’t watch another.”
She also adds that, “I’ve heard from younger people that those who haven’t seen a South Korean drama have trouble fitting in with trend-sensitive peers.” [New Focus]
Even “ the influence of South Korean tones and voices on language” can be heard in North Korean speech today, including in rural areas that were once isolated from such influences.
While I’m not sure that South Korean dramas are necessarily the best picture of reality, it can’t be worse than the propaganda machine in the North. Developments like this change the reunification dynamic, no longer allowing us to compare the East Germany/West Germany reunification situation to Korean unification. The world has changed and media has a much more powerful influence for good or for evil.
While the penetration of South Korean TV into the North’s culture is significant, I’d still guess that the shock of adjustment will be greater than in Germany. North Koreans have been told they are inherently better than the peoples of other nations for over 60 years, and after unification they’ll merely be residents of the poor part of Korea. I remember being shocked at seeing Russians march in honor of Stalin AFTER the fall of the USSR. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a nostalgia movement for the Kims either. It would be peopled with those who haven’t found their footing in a capitalist world, and whose only real possession is their pride.
It’s a multi-layered dynamic of economic and educational levels in North Korea, as I see it. I see a lot of gray area in the North society’s ability to change and adapt. I like how Sean, above, points out the residual potentials after reunification. Yet, that historic movement won’t happen in our life-time, unless China gives them a BIG nudge.