Kim Jong Un bans words like ‘hamburgers’, ‘ice-cream’ in North Korea. Here’s why

Instead of using the word hamburger, they are instructed to say dajin-gogi gyeopppang (double bread with ground beef). Ice cream must be referred to as eseukimo (Eskimo), while karaoke machines are to be called “on-screen accompaniment machines.” The directive, officials said, is meant to “consciously promote North Korean vocabulary” and avoid cultural infiltration through language.

This isn’t the first time country’s strict and unusual rules have drawn global attention. The regime has long imposed extreme punishments for behaviour considered ordinary elsewhere in the world.

In fact, a recent report revealed that Pyongyang has used the death penalty against citizens caught watching or sharing foreign films and television dramas. One woman who fled the country in 2023 told the BBC that three of her friends were executed simply for possessing South Korean dramas — a stark reminder of the risks North Koreans face for consuming outside media.

The restrictions on language come against the backdrop of an increasingly repressive climate in North Korea. A major new United Nations report, reviewing developments since 2014, found that repression has worsened in the last decade, particularly targeting citizens who try to access foreign media. The report documented house raids, harsh punishments, and even public executions for people caught watching South Korean dramas, listening to foreign music or sharing banned films.

Since 2015, Pyongyang has passed strict laws criminalising the consumption of information from so-called “hostile nations.” From 2018, crackdowns intensified further, with punishments becoming harsher after 2020. The UN review said the state orchestrated public trials and executions explicitly “to instil fear.”

While some North Koreans managed to bribe authorities during the pandemic to avoid punishment for consuming outside media, defectors noted that leniency quickly faded. More recently, the government has doubled down, with a task force raiding homes to search for “anti-socialist” material.

Despite the risks, reports suggest many North Koreans continue to access banned media, using smuggled USB sticks and illegal radio broadcasts.