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The border between North and South Korea is heavily fortified with multiple layers of barbed-wire fencing and numerous guard posts. However, interspersed amongst these defenses are unusual features: large, green camouflaged speakers.
During a recent visit, one speaker blared South Korean pop music interwoven with subtly subversive messages. “When we travel abroad, it energizes us,” a woman’s voice boomed—a pointed commentary given North Koreans’ restricted movement.
From the North Korean side, faint military propaganda music was audible, a counterpoint to the South’s broadcasts.
While technically still at war, the conflict between North and South Korea manifests subtly: an information war.
The South seeks to disseminate information into the North, countered by Kim Jong Un’s efforts to shield his populace from external influence.
North Korea remains the world’s only nation largely untouched by the internet. All media—television, radio, and newspapers—are strictly state-controlled.
“This control stems from the fabricated mythology surrounding the Kim family; much of their narrative is based on falsehoods,” explains Martyn Williams, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center and expert on North Korean technology and information.
South Korea’s strategy is predicated on the belief that widespread exposure of these lies could destabilize the regime.
Loudspeakers represent one tactic; however, a more sophisticated underground operation thrives concurrently.
During nighttime hours, a select group of broadcasters and non-profits transmit information via short and medium radio waves, enabling clandestine listening in North Korea.
Thousands of USB drives and micro-SD cards, laden with South Korean films, television shows, pop music, and news, are smuggled across the border monthly, challenging North Korean propaganda.
However, concerns are rising that North Korea is gaining the upper hand.
Kim Jong Un’s regime is intensifying crackdowns on those possessing foreign content, and funding for this work, largely from the US government, has been impacted by recent aid cuts under President Donald Trump.
This raises the question of the current state of this long-standing information war.
Monthly, Unification Media Group (UMG), a South Korean non-profit, curates playlists of news and entertainment aimed at North Korean audiences.
These are loaded onto devices categorized by risk level. Low-risk USBs contain South Korean dramas and pop music, including recent hits like “When Life Gives You Tangerines” and songs by Jennie.
High-risk content includes “educational programs” on democracy and human rights—subjects deemed most threatening to Kim’s regime.
These drives are then transported to the Chinese border, where UMG partners smuggle them into North Korea at considerable risk.
Even seemingly innocuous South Korean dramas reveal details of daily life—high-rise apartments, fast cars, upscale dining—contrasting sharply with the reality in North Korea.
This directly refutes Kim’s claim that South Koreans live in poverty and oppression.
“Some [people] tell us they cried while watching these dramas, and that they made them think about their own dreams for the very first time,” says Lee Kwang-baek, UMG’s director.
While the precise number of people accessing this content remains uncertain, testimonies from recent defectors suggest its influence is growing.
“Most recent North Korean defectors and refugees say it was foreign content that motivated them to risk their lives to escape,” notes Sokeel Park of Liberty in North Korea, another organization distributing this material.
In the absence of organized political opposition, Park hopes this exposure will inspire individual acts of resistance.
Kang Gyuri, a 24-year-old former North Korean business owner, fled to South Korea in late 2023, partly inspired by foreign television shows. “I felt so suffocated, and I suddenly had an urge to leave.“
She recalls listening to radio broadcasts as a child and obtaining her first K-drama at age 10. Later, she learned about USB and SD card smuggling.
Increased exposure revealed the government’s lies. “I used to think it was normal that the state restricted us so much. I thought other countries lived with this control,” she explains. “But then I realised it was only in North Korea.”
South Korean shows and films were widely consumed among her peers; they shared USB drives and discussed the content, including popular actors and K-pop idols.
“We talked about the popular dramas and actors, and the K-pop idols we thought were good looking, like certain members of BTS. We’d also talk about how South Korea’s economy was so developed; we just couldn’t criticise the North Korean regime outright.”
The shows also influenced their language and fashion, indicating a rapid shift amongst North Korean youth.
Kim Jong Un is actively combating this threat.
During the pandemic, new electric fences were erected along the Chinese border, hindering information smuggling. Laws introduced since 2020 have increased penalties for possessing or sharing foreign media, including potential imprisonment or execution.
This has created a climate of fear. “This media used to be available to buy in markets, people would openly sell it, but now you can only get it from people you trust,” says Mr. Lee.
Kang Gyuri and her friends adopted greater caution. “We don’t talk to each other about this anymore, unless we’re really close, and even then we’re much more secretive,” she admits.
She is aware of increased executions for possessing South Korean content.
In 2023, Kim outlawed the use of South Korean phrases and accents.
Youth crackdown squads monitor young people’s behavior, scrutinizing clothing and hairstyles. Kang recalls increased scrutiny before her escape, including confiscation of her phone and inspection of messages.
In late 2024, a North Korean mobile phone obtained by Daily NK revealed an Orwellian feature: South Korean words were automatically replaced with their North Korean counterparts.
“Smartphones are now part and parcel of the way North Korea tries to indoctrinate people,” states Mr. Williams.
Williams believes North Korea is “starting to gain the upper hand” in this information war due to these measures.
Following Donald Trump’s return to the White House, funding was cut to several aid organizations, including those informing North Koreans, and two federally-funded news services, Radio Free Asia and Voice of America (VOA), which had broadcast into North Korea, were defunded.
Trump labeled VOA as “radical” and anti-Trump, while the White House cited eliminating funding for “radical propaganda.”
Steve Herman, a former VOA bureau chief in Seoul, counters: “This was one of the very few windows into the world the North Korean people had, and it has gone silent with no explanation.”
UMG awaits word on potential funding cuts.
Park of Liberty in North Korea considers Trump’s action a “short-sighted” gift to Kim, arguing that given the failure of sanctions and diplomacy, information remains a crucial tool given North Korea’s nuclear threat.
“We’re not just trying to contain the threat of North Korea, we’re trying to solve it,” he argues. “To do that you need to change the nature of the country…If I was an American general I’d be saying ‘how much does this stuff cost, and actually that’s a pretty good use of our resources'”.
The question of funding remains, with the burden largely falling on the US. One potential solution involves South Korea, yet the issue is highly politicized.
The liberal opposition party favors improved relations with Pyongyang, making funding for information warfare unlikely. Their presidential candidate has indicated turning off the loudspeakers if elected.
Despite these challenges, Park remains optimistic. “The good thing is that the North Korean government can’t go into people’s heads and take out the information that’s been building for years,” he notes.
Technological advancements are expected to ease information dissemination. “In the long run I really believe this is going to be the thing that changes North Korea”.
Top image credit: Getty
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