'Oppa' Pyongyang style: Smartphones in North swap out slang from South in messages

If “Crash Landing on You” (2019-20) had played out on a North Korean smartphone, Yoon Se-ri wouldn’t be calling Ri Jeong-hyeok jagiya, an affectionate word used to call romantic partners. Instead, she’d get a warning.

North Korea is blocking people from using South Korean-style slang and terms of endearment, using surveillance-loaded smartphones that automatically censor popular phrases from K-dramas and everyday South Korean speech, according to a BBC report.

The BBC revealed that the regime is tightly controlling what users can see and say on their devices in a video report on Sunday. The phone in question, smuggled out of the country last year, appears ordinary on the surface but contains software designed to filter South Korean slang.

When a user types words like oppa, which is a term used for older brothers or boyfriends; jagiya, loosely translated to “honey;” jjokpalryeo, which means embarrassing; or hwaiting, a Korean-style cheer; the phone automatically replaces them.

For example, oppa is changed to dongji, meaning “comrade,” and a warning message explains that the term is only appropriate for referring to an older brother. When users enter “South Korea,” the device automatically replaces it with “puppet state.”

The phone also takes automatic screenshots every five minutes without the user’s knowledge. Only authorities can access the captured images, leaving the phone’s owner unaware of the monitoring.

The BBC said the function likely serves to track what information users are searching for or sharing.

Smartphones have become an essential tool for the regime to indoctrinate people, according to Martyn Williams, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based think tank Stimson Center and an expert on North Korea.

Since 2023, North Korea has criminalized the use of South Korean-style expressions and accents. Youth inspection squads reportedly patrol the streets to enforce the rule.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY LEE JI-YOUNG [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]