Exhuma, Make Mate 1 and others: K-pop relations between North and South Korea

Given the two Koreas' strong political tensions, the relationship between North and South Korea has always been on thin ice. However, they might have been worsened again thanks to a surprising agent... K-pop.

Image: Showbox

This has been brought back into the forefront, with the North sending over 'trash balloons' to the South, in response to the South's activism efforts to discredit the North using tactics such as K-pop and leafletting, says The Japan Times.

It is not new for North Korea to retaliate against the South’s use of media. Earlier in January, two teenagers were given a sentence of 12 years of hard labor just for watching K-pop, reports Reuters.

This has been the case for years, with North Korea imposing harsh penalties for the consumption of South Korean popular media. However, this has not prevented North Koreans from watching K-pop from the South, with some North Korean escapees even pursuing their own K-pop dreams.

Allkpop reports that the South Korea horror film, ‘Exhuma’, has been gaining massive popularity in North Korea. The source quoted, DailyNK, notes that the film has been gaining massive demand due to it being known as one of the most popular films in the South currently.

Image: Showbox

According to the same article, the film's content, which includes the practice of fortune telling and contacting ancestral spirits, struck a chord with North Koreans, as this is also a cultural practice for them. The film's appeal in the North was boosted by cultural similarities.

Image: Showbox

Despite the harsh penalties imposed for watching South Korean films like ‘Exhuma’, the film’s popularity has not waned and is reported to be continually in strong demand, reports DailyNK. The attractiveness of South Korean media has also attracted some North Koreans in daring to become K-pop stars in the South themselves!

Image: Showbox

Earlier in May, Nextshark reports that a contestant in the reality TV competition ‘Wake Make 1’, Kim Hak-sung, had come out with his identity as a North Korean defector in a competition to land a role in an upcoming K-pop boyband.

Image: KBS2

The confession shocked many, as despite his brave action in being open about his status, Allkpop reports that it is open knowledge that outing his identity as a defector could cost Kim Hak-sung his very life, due to the North’s strong stance on not just K-pop, but also defectors.

Image: KBS2

This is not the first publicised instance of North Korean defectors not just consuming South Korean media, but being involved in them themselves. Earlier in November 2023, the Wall Street Journal released a report on K-pop boy band ‘SB Boyz’, members Yu Hyuk and Kim Seok, who similarly aspire to make it big in K-pop despite their status as North Korean defectors.

Image: Singing Beetle

Despite the North's current intense attitude toward South Korean K-pop, it is worth noting that in 2018, the North and South Koreas collaborated on a concert featuring both notable South and North Korean performers, including Red Velvet and Girls Generation. According to Reuters, this event was culturally significant in terms of bilateral cultural diplomacy.

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