[News Today] K-POP SPREADING IN NK MILITARY

[LEAD]
The footage KBS obtained shows the spread of South Korean media within the North Korean military. One video reveals North Korean soldiers sharing South Korean movies and dramas on mobile phones, even adopting Southern expressions in secret. North Korean authorities opposed this cultural spread, declaring it a 'matter of life and death'.

[REPORT]
A North Korean soldier in his twenties confesses that he watched South Korean contents.

Rhee ○○/ N. Korean Soldier
I used my mobile phone to watch 15 American movies, 17 S. Korean puppet regime's movies and listen to their 160 songs.

The mother of another soldier wept as she said her son was arrested for watching South Korean videos.

Mother of N. Korean Soldier/
I was told that my son was arrested for watching S. Korean videos. I wailed again thinking I gave birth to a traitor.

In the video, soldiers are shown secretly trading South Korean videos on mobile phones and a text message condemns the use of South Korean expressions.

Educational Video for N. Korean Troops/
There's a growing trend of citizens purchasing, watching and keeping contents from the puppet regime on mobile phones and trading text messages using S. Korean expressions.

The video emphasizes that the spread of South Korean culture must be stopped as it is a matter of survival for the North Koreans.

Educational Video for N. Korean Troops/
Soldiers, employees and their families should think of the fight against this malignant tumor as a matter of survival.

This video was produced in 2020 by Scientific and Educational Film Studio of Korea, the maker of military documentary films in North Korea.

This film demonstrates that South Korean videos have spread widely within the North Korean military, so much so that a movie was made to address the issue.

Jeong Ha-neul/ Former N. Korean Soldier (Defected in 2012)
What changed is that they're emphasizing mobile phones the most. I've never seen the term 'blind date' used like this in North Korea.

Experts suspect that as more North Korean soldiers use smartphones, their loyalty to the regime is likely to diminish due to poor treatment and South Korean culture will spread even more within the North Korean military.