North Korea escalates crackdown on Western culture, aligns with Russia

South Korea published an alarming report on human rights violations in North Korea for the year 2024. The document reveals the regime's drastic methods in combating cultural influences from abroad.

The report, based on 649 testimonies from North Korean defectors, includes a detailed description of a 22-year-old man from Hwanghae province who was executed in 2022. According to an anonymous witness, the young man was sentenced to death for possessing and distributing cultural content from South Korea. He had listened to over 70 K-pop tracks and watched three South Korean movies.

This execution is a glaring example of the intensification of cultural policy in North Korea. In 2020, the authorities in Pyongyang introduced a new law banning "reactionary ideology and culture," which effectively means a total ban on accessing cultural content from the West and South Korea.

Experts point out that cultural repression in North Korea has significantly intensified since Kim Jong-un took power in 2011. The regime views foreign cultural influences as a serious threat to its ideology, which demands absolute loyalty to the Kim family.

The fight against "Western influences" includes music, films, fashion, and lifestyle. The North Korean authorities conduct campaigns against wearing tight jeans, t-shirts with foreign inscriptions, or dyeing hair. Sunglasses are also banned, despite Kim Jong-un often being photographed wearing dark glasses. Alcohol from wine glasses, considered a "South Korean" custom, is also prohibited.

The authorities conduct increasingly frequent house searches, looking for signs of foreign culture. Particular attention is paid to elements associated with South Korean wedding customs, such as white wedding dresses or the traditional gesture of the groom lifting the bride.

Despite severe penalties, including executions, South Korean cultural influences seem to be increasingly penetrating North Korea. A North Korean defector cited in the report said at a press conference in Seoul that South Korean culture is increasingly affecting North Korea. "Young people imitate and copy South Korean culture; they like everything South Korean," she said.

She also emphasized how contact with foreign cultures affects the awareness of North Korean residents. "After watching foreign movies, we wonder why we must live like this. Of course, we can't publicly criticize Kim Jong-un, but we do so in conversations with loved ones," she added.

Experts on North Korea emphasize that these drastic measures indicate the regime's growing anxiety in the face of the influx of information and culture from outside. Dr. Lee Sung-yoon, a professor of international relations at Tufts University in the USA, emphasizes that Kim Jong-un's regime is aware of the power of information coming from outside. "They can undermine his monopoly on the control of citizens' minds. That is why the reaction is so brutal and disproportionate," he adds.

International human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned North Korea for violating fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression and access to information. The South Korean ministry's report provides further evidence of the scale of repression in this country.

The Pyongyang regime signed a new agreement with Russia in mid-June. The treaty of comprehensive strategic partnership, signed during Vladimir Putin's visit to Pyongyang, includes a mutual defense clause under which both sides are to support each other in case of external aggression.

"The comprehensive partnership agreement signed today provides, among other things, for mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this agreement," said the Russian dictator after about two hours of talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang.

Putin also announced that Russia does not rule out developing military-technical cooperation with North Korea under this agreement, according to Russian media, emphasizing that security and international affairs took up a large part of the meeting.

The Kremlin had earlier announced that a new "fundamental document" had been prepared to serve as the basis for relations between the two countries.

The North Korean leader was said to have stated that the agreement is "peaceful and defensive" in nature.

Russia and North Korea also signed agreements on cooperation in healthcare, medical education, and science, according to Russian state media, citing the Kremlin's website.

"We oppose the practice of applying politically motivated sanctions and restrictions. Such illegitimate actions only undermine the global economic and political system," said Putin at the end of the meeting with Kim Jong-un.

In 2022, after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, relations between Moscow and Pyongyang deepened, mainly due to Western sanctions imposed on Moscow and Russia's attempts to circumvent these restrictions.