Photo: Radio Free Asia.
Cho Mi-young watches a live broadcast of KBS Music Bank at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul, Oct. 16, 2026.
In North Korea, the internationally popular South Korean music called K-Pop is illegal and the ban is strictly enforced. But as the Guardian wrote in 2024, “Despite such harsh measures, the influence of South Korean culture, including recent television shows, appears unstoppable, according to a recent North Korean defector.
“ ‘The speed of South Korean culture influencing North Korea is seriously fast. Young people follow and copy South Korean culture, and they really love anything South Korean,’ a woman in her early 20s who defected from North Korea told reporters at a briefing in Seoul.’ “
This month, Kim Jisu wrote for Radio Free Asia about another defector’s reaction to seeing a K-Pop show in person for the first time.
“A white tiger entered the courtyard outside the National Museum in Seoul. He mugged for the camera and darted up the steps. At the top were the six members of BOYNEXTDOOR, wearing quasi-traditional outfits that mixed elements of hanbok with modern formal wear and a tinge of ‘bad boy’ biker gear.
“As they danced in unison and sang the opening lines of their hit single ‘Animal,’ the crowd went wild.
“Sitting in the audience was Cho Mi-young – born in Chongjin, North Korea – who arrived with her family in the South in 2004. …
“Cho is in the audience at an episode of KBS Music Bank, a Friday night K-pop showcase program with all the latest acts. It has been the start of the K-pop weekend for most of its 28-year runtime. Surprisingly, it’s her first time ever seeing a live K-pop performance in person after 22 years in the South.
“Tickets to studio tapings of KBS Music Bank are hard to come by. Fans either have to know someone, know someone who knows someone, or enter the ticket lottery. The episode she’s watching on Oct. 16 is special — it’s a live broadcast and the biggest boy bands, girl bands, and boy-girl bands are plying their craft on an outdoor stage on the grounds of the National Museum of Korea, which the show’s special intro vignette called the ‘beating heart of Korean culture.’ …
“ ‘I’ve seen it a lot on TV, but today is the first time I’ve seen it with my own eyes,’ Cho told Radio Free Asia. ‘Seeing such beautiful and handsome people dancing and singing right in front of me, moving like that, is absolutely mesmerizing.’
“Cho is no stranger to music, or to the stage. In North Korea she had been a vocalist for a state-run provincial arts troupe. After settling in the South, Cho was a fixture in Seoul’s burgeoning musical theater scene and she toured as an accordion player. She later transitioned into broadcasting. …
“But today, she’s just a fangirl in a sea of other diehards, most of whom are screaming the names of the idols on stage.
“On the night of her first live K-pop concert, Cho reminisced about how she first encountered South Korean music in North Korea. At the time, she didn’t have access to what most would describe as K-pop today; instead she took in a lot of trot – a unique South Korean genre that mixes Western foxtrot dance rhythms with pentatonic minor scale melodies. Most young South Koreans consider trot to be music their grandparents like. …
“Today’s performances on the Music Bank stage were a far cry from her own back in North Korea. For one, everyone on stage just seems happy to be there, she said.
“ ‘When I performed in North Korea, I was always stiff,’ she said. ‘When we were on stage, we performed with the mindset of conveying the Party’s voice, so I don’t think I ever had the thought that we were actually enjoying our own music.’
“Several more musical acts came and went and then the undistorted electric guitar of indie rock band Jannabi’s Kim Do-hyung echoed through the air as vocalist Choi Jung-hoon sang the first few lyrics of ‘Thoughts on an Autumn Night.’ … The song struck a chord with Cho. Performed by just one singer and one guitarist it was a bit of a shift from the rest of the evening’s heavily choreographed bangers.
” ‘The lyrical melody seems to have a bit of North Korean sensibility to it.’ …
“When it was all over, Cho talked about her experience on the show, but it wasn’t only the dazzle of the K-pop acts that caught her eye. She was also amazed by the devoted fans, who sang along with every lyric from memory and chanted in pre-arranged cheers in unison. She thought back to how strange that seemed when she first arrived. …
“The best performance of the evening, according to Cho, was by a co-ed group called AllDay Project. She thought they looked cool in their all-black outfits, some in furs, others in biker leather – almost like warriors.
“But as an artist, Cho’s thoughts naturally turned to the massive effort that must have gone on behind the scenes. The meticulous choreography alone must take many months of practice, she said. …
“She said, ‘In terms of the sheer volume of training, it might be difficult to see a significant difference between the North and South.’
“But she noted that the payoff in the South is individual success, unlike the North, where it would merely advance the goals of the state.”
More at the Radio Free Asia, here. No paywall.
