South Korean slang getting more popular in North Korea

SEOUL, June 9 (UPI) -- Phrases frequently used in South Korean movies have become so popular in North Korea that even North Korean law enforcement officers are using them in their everyday language.

A source in Pyongyang told Radio Free Asia that South Korean vernacular has gone mainstream across North Korea due to the popularity of South Korean movies and music.

In North Korea's capital, home to the isolated country's privileged class, North Korean affinity for South Korean films is changing the way people talk or address each other, South Korean newspaper Herald Business reported.

The influence of South Korean media is not limited to just music and film.

Many residents in Pyongyang are familiar with South Korea's top celebrities and know them by name.

A well-liked form of South Korean singing also known as "trot" music has gone mainstream in Pyongyang. The music appeals to South Korea's older generations, but in North Korea young people secretly listen to the South Korean hit song "What's Wrong With My Age" at home, said the source.

"The adults in the household used to tell their children to turn the music off immediately, but nowadays more adults are listening to the song, along with their children," said the source.

Small North Korean children also are not immune to the influence of South Korean popular culture. When a 3-year-old was asked his age, the child, like his peers, would answer "What 'bout you?" in a South Korean manner represented in a popular movie.

Law enforcement in Pyongyang has tried to curb South Korea-style speech, but the dialect has become mainstream. A frequently used South Korean term of encouragement, "Fighting!" has become so commonplace in North Korea that police are saying it.