Kim Jong Un has declared war on South Korea K-Pop.
Dear Leader says it's a serious threat to North Korean socialism. He calls this genre and South Korean pop groups a "vicious cancer."
Leaked documents from the North Korean government reveal the country's Supreme Leader is running an anti-K-Pop campaign.
The documents obtained by The New York Times detail how his administration accuses K-Pop of spreading "anti-socialist sentiment" and even "corrupting" youth "attire, hairstyles, speech and behavior."
TMZ said Kim's sentiments echo '70s American parents who were against the idolization of Elvis Presley and The Beatles. However, compared with then their punishment was tame.
Kim, known as a "brutal dictator," allegedly ordered a crackdown on K-Pop fans. It remains to be seen how far Kim will go to stop K-Pop from invading his country's culture.
K-Pop groups like BTS and BlackPink can be found online. Their fans are even more influential thanks to the use of social media.
But the North regime has a notorious grip on the country's internet access.
NME said the anti-K-Pop campaign includes South Korean movies, dramas and popular videos.
"To Kim Jong Un, the cultural invasion from South Korea has gone beyond a tolerable level," Jiro Ishimaru, chief editor of Asia Press International, a Japan website that monitors North Korea, says. "If this is left unchecked, he fears his people might start considering the South an alternative to the North."
The war against K-Pop started in December when laws imposed five to 15 years in labor camps for Northerners caught watching or possessing South Korean entertainment. Distribution of this material comes with a death sentence.
In addition, those "speaking, writing or even singing" face up to two years' hard labor.
Why has it come to this? A North Korean defector who also has a network that smuggles K-Pop into the country says youth believe they owe nothing to Kim. So, the leader has to reassert his "ideological control" to maintain his family's dynastic rule.
A North Korean news website claimed South Korean music labels treat K-Pop idols as "slaves" and live a "miserable life," according to the SCMP. It alleged the likes of BTS and BlackPink are poorly treated in exchange for fame and money.
