[News Terms] North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly Adopts 'Pyeongyang Munhwa Language Protection Law'

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] The 'Pyongyang Cultural Language Protection Act' is a law that prohibits North Korean residents from using South Korean-style speech and foreign loanwords that appear in South Korean dramas or movies, in addition to the North Korean standard language, Pyongyang dialect. It was adopted at the 8th session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly held on the 17th and 18th.

According to the National Intelligence Service, North Korean authorities have recently observed a widespread phenomenon, especially among some young people, of secretly consuming Hallyu content such as South Korean dramas and movies and using Seoul dialect and English-style expressions. They have been cracking down on terms like 'namchin (boyfriend)', 'jjokpallinda (embarrassed)', calling husbands 'oppa', and boyfriends 'jagiya', and this law formalizes those measures.

Previously, in 2020, North Korea enacted the 'Anti-Reactionary Ideological and Cultural Rejection Act', which included a punishment clause sentencing distributors of South Korean video materials to death. Experts say these laws are used as means to strongly control ideology and mentality.

North Korea held the 8th session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly from January 17 to 18 at the Mansudae Assembly Hall, according to a report by the Korean Central News Agency on the 19th. The photo shows the scene of the meeting.
[Photo by Korean Central News Agency, Pyongyang/ Yonhap News]

According to the Korean Ethnic Culture Encyclopedia, 'Pyongyang Cultural Language' is an artificially created language formed politically and revolutionarily, containing many vocabularies referring to socialist ideology and the unique systems and customs of North Korean society. 'Sae-po' (cell) means the basic organization that educates party members, disciplines their thoughts, and guides their daily lives. 'Jabonga' (capitalist) is described as one who owns capital and employs wage laborers to exploit the surplus value they create. Compared to South Korea's standard language, there are many words whose meanings are reduced or whose values are downgraded.

For this reason, it is mainly used as a tool for the class education of the people. It was established in 1966 by a speech from Chairman Kim Il-sung to have an official language independent from South Korea's standard language based on the Seoul dialect.

An official from the Ministry of Unification said on the 19th, "Considering expressions in the Supreme People's Assembly's result announcement such as thoroughly realizing the Party's plans and intentions, or protecting ideology, systems, and culture, it is suspected that there is an intention to strengthen control over society as a whole."