A war on words: Kim Jong Un’s Orwellian crackdown on talking like South Koreans



Analysis A war on words: Kim Jong Un’s Orwellian crackdown on talking like South Koreans A new North Korean law polices intonation, jargon and more in futile effort to curtail ‘the puppet way of speaking’ Peter Ward June 28, 2023 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON Two North Koreans chatting on a rainy day in Oct. 2016 \| Image: NK Pro North Korea’s top parliamentary body recently adopted a new law on standard and acceptable speech and language in the country, a terrifying and ultra-aggressive attack on accents, jargon and vocabulary not approved by the state. The Pyongyang Standard Language Protection Act demonstrates just how concerned the Kim regime is about the encroachment of South Korean culture into North Korean society. The law would be comical if it weren’t for just how severe the punishments it mandates were. An NK Pro analysis indicates: Many of the new stipulations are characterized by remarkable vagueness Read More © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. LATEST ANALYSIS 01How Assad’s downfall could expose secrets of North Korea-Syria military ties 02All the companies that participated in the Pyongyang Autumn Trade Fair 2024 03No Chinese firms joined North Korea’s latest trade fair dominated by Russia 04What defectors’ exam scores reveal about the quality of North Korean health care 05North Korean Il-76 cargo planes make rare flights to northeast coast 06From aid to academia: The status of foreign organizations in North Korea 07North Korea expanding rail access to airport near Wonsan mega resort: Imagery 08Assad’s fall deprives North Korea of a fellow pariah, but its focus is elsewhere

Analysis

A war on words: Kim Jong Un’s Orwellian crackdown on talking like South Koreans

A new North Korean law polices intonation, jargon and more in futile effort to curtail ‘the puppet way of speaking’

Peter Ward June 28, 2023

A war on words: Kim Jong Un’s Orwellian crackdown on talking like South Koreans

Two North Koreans chatting on a rainy day in Oct. 2016 | Image: NK Pro

North Korea’s top parliamentary body recently adopted a new law on standard and acceptable speech and language in the country, a terrifying and ultra-aggressive attack on accents, jargon and vocabulary not approved by the state.

The Pyongyang Standard Language Protection Act demonstrates just how concerned the Kim regime is about the encroachment of South Korean culture into North Korean society.

The law would be comical if it weren’t for just how severe the punishments it mandates were. An NK Pro analysis indicates:

Many of the new stipulations are characterized by remarkable vagueness

01How Assad’s downfall could expose secrets of North Korea-Syria military ties
02All the companies that participated in the Pyongyang Autumn Trade Fair 2024
03No Chinese firms joined North Korea’s latest trade fair dominated by Russia
04What defectors’ exam scores reveal about the quality of North Korean health care
05North Korean Il-76 cargo planes make rare flights to northeast coast
06From aid to academia: The status of foreign organizations in North Korea
07North Korea expanding rail access to airport near Wonsan mega resort: Imagery
08Assad’s fall deprives North Korea of a fellow pariah, but its focus is elsewhere

A war on words: Kim Jong Un’s Orwellian crackdown on talking like South Koreans

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Peter Ward