{"id":4088,"date":"2019-02-20T10:36:43","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T01:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.01.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/?p=4088"},"modified":"2019-02-25T16:46:30","modified_gmt":"2019-02-25T07:46:30","slug":"south-korea-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/2019\/02\/recommendations\/south-korea-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Kim Jong-un regime wary of 'adverse effects' of inter-Korean exchange... Residents imprisoned for watching South Korean dramas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An unusual sight in South Korea as the North Korean and Japanese flags are seen side by side. Taken at the closing ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games by ISHIMARU Jiro, February 2018<\/p><\/div>\n

In 2018, the Kim Jong-un regime made its first steps toward improving inter-Korean relations as politicians, government officials, business leaders and performers made numerous trips between Seoul and Pyongyang. In sports, the athletes found common ground as the two countries came together to participate as one. A unified women's ice hockey team competed in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games, while other joint teams were formed for the Asian Games and World Table Tennis Championships.<\/p>\n

When unified Korean sports teams were first formed, the public was curious to find out how well the young athletes would perform together for the first time and how they would interact after being formed as a single team on very short notice. The North and South Korean athletes had not only cultural differences to work through but even a difference in sporting terminology. In North Korea, passing in basketball is referred to as \"contacting\" and serving in table tennis is called \"thrusting in\".<\/p>\n

Watching the sports competitions on TV, one could easily distinguish between the North and South Korean female athletes on the unified team.\u00a0 The South Korean athletes wore makeup and were quite stylish, with most having long, dyed hair. The North Korean athletes, meanwhile, had black, short hair and wore no makeup.<\/p>\n

The North Korean athletes acted quite differently to their Southern teammates as well. On the surface, they seemed very cautious and passive in their behavior. As it was most likely their first time meeting South Koreans, one can only wonder what was going through their mind. To learn more, I asked a North Korean defector who had previously worked in sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe North Korean athletes would have been shocked to meet their South Korean counterparts. They would have been able to see for themselves the fruits of South Korea's economic development by looking at the South Korean athletes\u2019 clothes, equipment, and other belongings, and they would have envied the free-spiritedness of the young South Koreans,\u201d explained the North Korean defector.<\/p>\n

As for the South Korean athletes\u2019 part, they met the North Korean athletes with open arms. They hugged the North Korean athletes, put their hands on their shoulders, and shed tears when they parted ways at the tournament\u2019s end. These emotional goodbyes must have been very difficult for the North Korean athletes. Unable to express their true feelings or exchange parting gifts, they couldn\u2019t help but behave quite awkwardly when it came time to say farewell.<\/p>\n

\u25c6Teammates ordered to surveil each other<\/h2>\n

\"They were nervous. Athletes and coaches always undergo ideological training before departure. If you display 'excessive kindness' toward South Korean athletes and officials, you may be criticized later for being 'ideologically corrupted'. You may be accused of spying if you pass on letters and goods without authorization, and you are suspected of attempting to defect if you walk around alone. There are always Ministry of State Security agents (secret police) among the delegations. Also, there are athletes and coaches who are given orders to surveil others. Even the athletes don\u2019t know who they are,\" said the North Korean defector.<\/p>\n

Even with such controls in place, the young North Koreans\u2019 memories cannot be erased. Last year, in the field of sports alone, there were probably more than a hundred North Korean athletes, coaches, and officials who came into contact with South Koreans. They gained the opportunity to learn about South Korea and the rest of the world and were finally able to evaluate their own society in relative terms. The more inter-Korean exchanges, the better.<\/p>\n

Next page: Increase in inter-Korean exchanges followed by 'adverse effects'\u2026 <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u25c6Increase in inter-Korean exchanges followed by 'adverse effects'<\/h2>\n

Reporting of inter-Korean exchanges, including sporting exchanges, in international media has somewhat improved North Korea's reputation. This has helped, perhaps temporarily, to relieve concerns about North Korea\u2019s nuclear capabilities and human rights violations.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Kim Jong-un regime is well aware that the increase in exchanges between the two Koreas could result in serious adverse effects back home. As a safeguard against this, at the beginning of the inter-Korean dialogue, the regime initiated a campaign for the 'struggle against non-socialist phenomena'. In addition, in March 2018, shortly after the end of the Pyeongchang Olympic Games, proclamations of crackdowns on \"non-socialist phenomena\" were issued throughout the country.<\/p>\n

North Koreans who were caught listening to South Korean music or watching South Korean dramas were arrested in droves. People with jeans, miniskirts, shirts with English writing, piercings, dyed hair, and men with long hair were subject to the nationwide crackdowns. There were also cases where people had their hair cut forcibly with scissors on the streets, according to multiple reporting partners. This was a preventive measure, guarding against the threat of South Korea\u2019s cultural influence spreading in North Korea.<\/p>\n

\u25c6North Korea remains wary of South Korean influence<\/h2>\n

After the inter-Korean summit was held in April last year in Panmunjom, expectations for economic aid and investment from South Korea grew rapidly among North Korean residents. At the same time, an increasing number of people began to openly express their admiration for the freedom enjoyed in South Korea and for South Korean President Moon Jae-in. A woman in her forties in the northern area said, \"We also want to elect a president. It\u2019s strange that only members of a single family are involved in politics.\"<\/p>\n

In 2019, I began to hear more news about arrested citizens receiving heavy sentences and being transferred to correctional labor camps (prisons). A reporting partner in Hoeryong City, North Hamkyung Province, said on January 28, \u201cA person who secretly sold a copy of a South Korean drama was put on trial and sentenced to 12 years in prison. It has become normal for a person to be sent to a correctional labor camp for watching one or two episodes of a South Korean drama. The number of people who watch them have greatly decreased due to fear of punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n

ASIAPRESS contacts its North Korean reporting partners using smuggled Chinese phones. Chinese phone coverage extends several kilometers across the border, which makes phone calls and text messaging possible. As such, the use of Chinese mobile phones has become a nuisance for the authorities. There have been many cases where residents were caught and sent to labor camps as punishment for calling family members who defected to South Korea.<\/p>\n

These strict measures are meant as a firm warning against the spread of South Korean culture and information. For the North Korean dictatorship, inter-Korean conciliation and exchange can only take place if internal control is strengthened. This is the sad reality.<\/p>\n

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