A North Korean man sells contraband pickled eggs, cigarettes, alcohol and ginseng to Korean, Japanese and Chinese tourists on the Yalu River, north of Dandong, China's larger border city with North Korea. North Koreans have more access to knowledge of the outside world because of the proliferation of black markets and illegal media inside the country. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI |
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SEOUL, June 23 (UPI) -- North Korea's millennial "black market" generation could be a force for positive change, but their success also could extend the life of the Kim Jong Un regime, according to analysts.
Commonly known as the "jangmadang generation," North Koreans born just before the collapse of the country's planned economy in the 90s have grown up in a society with relatively easy access to information about the outside world, and to multimedia, South Korea's CBS No Cut News reported on Tuesday.
Young North Koreans between the ages of 18 and 35 comprise 25 percent of the total population, according to Sokeel Park, director of research and strategy at Liberty in North Korea, a Seoul-based nonprofit that aids North Korean defectors.
South Korean news outlet Newsis reported North Korean millennials adhere less to North Korea's socialist ideology, having grown up after the Great Famine of the 90s, according to Park.
Instead illegal forms of media, including Chinese television shows and South Korea soap operas, are influencing the fashion choices and concealed lifestyles of young North Koreans, Park said.
Park's remarks follow a recent report of South Korea slang taking root in Pyongyang. In North Korea's capital, home to the country's privileged class, North Korean affinity for South Korean films is changing the way people talk or address each other.
The success of North Korea economic reforms, said Park, depends on the state's ability to absorb the energy of a younger and hip generation familiar with private barter – because the group is playing a role in making North Korea a better place.
Speaking on a panel with Park at Kyungnam University, Kim Sung-kyung of the University of North Korean studies said the proliferation of information technology and a strong interest in mobile phones and laptops have served as a bridge to foreign media for young North Koreans.
But Park In-ho, publisher of South Korea-based news outlet Daily NK, said North Korea's black markets have a strong tendency to buy time for the Kim Jong Un regime.
Economic activity in North Korea's black markets is apolitical and doesn't challenge the leadership.
This puts Kim Jong Un at ease, said Park.
