Why North Korea isn’t happy about South Korea’s pop culture soft power

Why North Korea Isn’t Happy About South Korea’s Pop-culture Soft Power | GZERO World

South Korea is having a global pop culture moment. Right now Squid Game is top show on Netflix. Parasite was the first non-English language film to win Best Picture at the 2020 Oscars. And then there's BTS, breaking records with their songs and even making a splash at the UN, further proof of K-pop's influence beyond music along with online fans ruining a Trump rally in Oklahoma. As South Korea expands its soft power, Kim Jong Un sees it as a growing threat to his rule over North Korea, and says K-pop is a "vicious cancer."

Watch this episode of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer: The Korean Peninsula from K-Pop to Kim Jong-un

Subscribe to GZERO on YouTube to be the first to see new episodes of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer: https://bit.ly/2TxCVnY

More from GZERO Media

US President Donald J. Trump signs executive orders in the Cabinet Room of the White House on March 25, 2025.

Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that aims to secure elections by requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. The order aims to guard against illegal immigrants voting in elections and would require all ballots to be received by Election Day.

US President Donald Trump attends a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 10, 2025.
REUTERS/Nathan Howard

The laws of gravity applied to the markets Thursday, with stocks reversing again as the reality of the US President Donald Trump’s new world trade order started to set in for investors.

South Sudan's president Salva Kiir, earlier this month. His recent moves against the opposition pushed the country towards civil war, but now the opposition itself is in crisis.
REUTERS/Samir Bol

The world's newest country has been on the brink of a return to civil war.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaking at a press conference at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C.
ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect

The US House narrowly passed the Senate-approved budget blueprint Thursday, by a vote of 216-214. The vote unleashes the power to sidestep filibusters and deliver a funding bill to the president’s desk this summer.