Lee Jae-myung was inaugurated as South Korea's 21st president last month. He stated regarding North Korea policy that "dialogue, communication, and cooperation are truly important." Meanwhile, within North Korea, state media only briefly reported on the launch of the new government. What do North Koreans think about dialogue and cooperation with the Lee Jae-myung government? In June 2025, a female reporting partner living in the northern region responded to a phone interview. Her voice is revealed here. (KANG Ji-won / HONG Mari)
The woman who we interviewed answered that she had "heard" about President Lee Jae-myung's inauguration, and regarding inter-Korean cooperation and dialogue, she calmly said, "The way things are now, I don't think (the Kim Jong-un regime) will do anything with South Korea..."
As the reason, she explained the stricter domestic control situation compared to before, saying "If you get caught with South Korean products, movies, dramas, anything like that, they treat you as a political criminal. People who have family in South Korea get immediately expelled if they say even one wrong word."
Regarding the current situation where external information is thoroughly blocked, she said, "Since we don't know how the world is turning, I feel like we're becoming more and more ignorant people."
Details of the conversation can be heard in the video.
※ ASIAPRESS communicates with its reporting partners through Chinese cell phones smuggled into North Korea.
