Defector BJ says BTS hot in NK despite hallyu crackdown

North Korea defector and BJ Han Song-yi. Courtesy of AfreecaTV

By Dong Sun-hwa

North Korean defector and broadcasting jockey (BJ) Han Song-yi revealed Thursday that global K-pop act BTS is popular in North Korea but people there use codes to talk about the group because of Pyongyang's crackdown on hallyu or the Korean wave.

BTS stands for "Bang Tan Soneyondan," in which "Bang Tan" means bulletproof and "Soneyondan" a group of boys in Korean.

"I have heard that North Koreans dub BTS as 'Bang Tan bag (bulletproof bag) and it was a secret code," said Han, appearing on MBC FM4U radio "Ji Suk-jin's 2 O'Clock Date."

That code is applied when one asks, "Have you ever held a Bang Tan bag?" It is taken among people in the know to mean "Have you ever heard the track of BTS?"

Han explained that codes are used to avoid the hallyu crackdown.

"My acquaintance in North Korea asked me about new songs in BTS's new album," Han said. "I picked 'Fire' as my favorite track, but my friend said she already knew about it."

Han, who is a BJ for AfreecaTV in South Korea, left North Korea in 2013 as she had yearned for Korean celebrities, including rapper G-dragon of K-pop boy band BIGBANG.

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