South Korean TV dramas may seem innocuous, but they reveal much about ordinary life there – people living in high-rise apartments, driving fast cars and eating at upmarket restaurants. It highlights both their freedom and how North Korea is many years behind.
This challenges one of Kim’s biggest fabrications: that those in the South are poor and miserably oppressed.
“Some [people] tell us they cried while watching these dramas, and that they made them think about their own dreams for the very first time”, says Lee Kwang-baek, director of UMG.
It is difficult to know exactly how many people access the USBs, but testimonies from recent defectors seem to suggest the information is spreading and having an impact.
“Most recent North Korean defectors and refugees say it was foreign content that motivated them to risk their lives to escape”, says Sokeel Park, whose organisation Liberty in North Korea works to distribute this content.
There is no political opposition or known dissidents in North Korea, and gathering to protest is too dangerous – but Mr Park hopes some will be inspired to carry out individual acts of resistance.