[Anchor]

Let's continue our discussion on North Korea with Reporter Kim Ayeong.

Kim, it's widely known that North Korea strictly cracks down on K-pop and South Korean dramas, right? But I heard you actually typed the names of K-pop singers directly into a North Korean smartphone?

[Reporter]

Following last week, I've brought another story about North Korean smartphones this week.

I tried typing the names of K-pop singers into Samtaeseong 8, a North Korean smartphone unveiled around 2023.

When I typed "Bangtan Sonyeondan" (BTS) and pressed the space bar, the text completely disappeared and was replaced by symbols, as you can see on the screen.

Next, I tried typing "BTS," and contrary to expectations, the text remained on the screen.

As for "Blackpink," it was quite unusual: "Black" remained, but "Pink" disappeared.

When I typed "Autumn in My Heart," a drama frequently cited by defectors as a major motivation for their defection, the text vanished as well.

However, "Descendants of the Sun" did not disappear.

We could see that the system's response varied slightly depending on which keywords were entered.

[Anchor]

Surely North Korea isn't actually blocking "Bangtan Sonyeondan" while allowing "BTS," right?

[Reporter]

We can deduce that at the time this program was used, the name "Bangtan Sonyeondan" was much more widely known than "BTS," which is why only that specific keyword was blocked.

What you are seeing on the screen right now is the smartphone's language processing program.

Promoted as high-performance, it is described as having a "powerful puppet speech and non-normative language processing function."

This means these programs are playing a role in filtering out South Korean terms like "oppa" or "jagiya" (honey), as well as blocking K-pop singers, South Korean dramas, and movies from ever being discussed among residents.

However, new K-pop singers and songs are constantly emerging.

This means North Korean authorities face the ongoing task of continuously upgrading this "electronic shield" designed to block South Korean culture.

The tighter they pull the reins of control, the more things they will inevitably have to filter out.