South Korean television shows are increasingly finding their way across the border into the North. One show in particular carries a message Kim Jong Un wants to stamp out.
The set of South Korean television panel show Now On My Way To Meet You, which airs the personal tales of North Korean defectors.abc.net.au/news/north-korea-defectors-television-show-seoul/102267464For Hee-Jin Ryu, there was something about the way people professed their love for each other on South Korean television that first kindled her doubts about North Korea.
A former star of North Korea's synchronised swimming team, Hee-Jin had been selected to work at a restaurant in Europe, a privilege reserved for the regime's most loyal supporters. It often hosted politically charged discussions about North Korea's leadership, a forbidden topic of discussion at home. Not long after, Hee-Jin's minder grew suspicious and reported her. Fearing for her life, she fled to the nearest South Korean embassy where she sought asylum.
A 2019 survey of North Korean defectors living in South Korea found that 60 per cent of the 400 people interviewed had access to international media before their escape. "Our show is probably the most closely monitored by the North Korean authorities," said Now On My Way's lead producer, Goon Lae Kim.Filmed each week in Channel A's Seoul studio, set among gleaming high-rise towers not far from the city centre, Now On My Way is not afraid of getting under Kim Jong Un's skin.
The show set has been designed to resemble Panmunjom, a meeting place for leaders from the North and South at the DMZ. Now On My Way was initially conceived as a tear-jerking reunion show where North and South Korean families separated by 70 years of war would be reunited on television. Some defector guests were propelled to stardom in South Korea, and even internationally, such as Yeonmi Park, one of the show's most famous beauties.
It's a problem partly inherent in the show's design. The defector tales are at times hard to believe, and even harder to verify. Gone is the old cartoonish barnyard-style set in favour of the replica of Panmunjom, an iconic meeting point for diplomatic exchanges between leaders from both sides of the DMZ.
"The millennial and Gen Z generations are what Kim Jong Un fears the most. He feels threatened by them," said Kim.Programs like Now On My Way are certainly proving successful in raising the ire of Kim Jong Un's regime. Many ended up in South Korea, where a shared language and familiar culture can ease the transition to life outside the reclusive regime.
But for defectors who arrive influenced by images they've seen on South Korean TV shows, the reality check can be jarring. She hid her Korean TV obsession from her parents, who were strict supporters of the regime, but would gather with her friends at school to whisper about the latest episode. Goon Lae Kim often selects discussion topics calibrated to undermine the North Korean leadership, in the knowledge some inside the country will see the show.
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