”Even if Kim Jong Un executes me, I still want to watch Korean TV series”... Changes in North Korea

A North Korean defector in his 20s said that the younger generation in North Korea places great importance on their own happiness and is seeking revenge on Chairman Kim Jung Eun out of frustration at the authorities' strict crackdown on Korean culture.
On the 27th, the Yomiuri Shimbun published an interview with Kang Gyuri (24, pseudonym), who defected from North Korea in October last year and is now living in Seoul.
In an interview, he said, "I have no loyalty to Kim Jong Un, who executes people for watching a South Korean TV series," and "Not blindly following the authorities is a characteristic of our generation. This is the beginning of a change in North Korean society."
Kang visited Japan on the 26th and 27th of this month to take part in a film screening and lecture event on human rights in North Korea held in Tokyo, where he gave interviews to media.
Kang was born in Pyongyang, a city inhabited by many of the privileged, and lived a relatively comfortable life, but he became dissatisfied with the system and defected from North Korea.
Kang said North Korean authorities are tightening controls over the spread of Korean culture among the younger generation.
Kang said, "The police would call me every time I walked down the street and check whether I used Korean expressions like 'oppa' (older brother) in my cell phone messages."
There was also a public trial for young people who had watched the show. In fact, in September this year, North Korean authorities handcuffed and arrested some teenage boys for watching a South Korean TV series, and even made the identities of their families public.
Even though he heard that young people in North Korea who secretly watched South Korean movies were publicly executed, Kang said, "It's the people who make us bear with our hard lives."
He said he could not give up on South Korea's TV Series, explaining that the younger generation of North Koreans, including himself, have begun to prioritize their own lives and happiness over groups and organizations.
Kang also reflected on the time of his escape, saying, "The joy was greater than the fear. 44 hours after boarding the boat,
I met a South Korean fisherman near Sokcho in the East Sea, Sea of Japan, who asked me if I had defected from North Korea and said, "Welcome!" I was touched. I had come from a world of darkness to a world filled with light.
"There is no one in North Korea who doesn't know that South Korea is a developed country," he said, "but South Koreans consider North Koreans to be the same ethnic group and try to help them."
Most people don't know that, and that if they go to Korea, they can obtain Korean citizenship," he said regretfully.