North Koreans are secretly watching and listening to so many South Korean movies and songs smuggled into the country that they are becoming increasingly worried that they might let a banned word slip – and face prison time or even death for using “capitalist” lingo, sources in the country tell Radio Free Asia.
“Residents who are already accustomed to the South Korean way of speaking now feel like they have to practice the Pyongyang dialect,” said a resident in the northwestern province of North Pyongan, referring to the capital.
“They are worried that South Korean words will unintentionally or unknowingly come out of their mouths and that they will be punished,” he said. For example, North Korean women dare not call their husbands or boyfriends “jagiya” (which correlates to honey) or “oppa” (another term of endearment that literally means older brother). Instead, they must stick with “dongji,” (comrade), the source said.
People are also having to avoid using South Korean loan words from English such as “paesyeon” (fashion), “heeoseutail” (hairstyle) and “waipeu” (wife). “Even openly saying ‘I love you’ is evidence that they have seen South Korean movies and such language has become normalized,” the source said.
Video: RFA
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