Friday Fun: Gangnam Style (DPRK)

So “Gangnam Style” seems to be popular these days…

To get an idea of what is going on here, read this article in The Atlantic.

I had no idea that there was such a place (Gangnam/강남) in South Korea (I have been to 49 countries, including to the DPRK, but never South Korea).  However, I am willing to bet that almost nobody knows that there is a Kangnam (DPRK romanization of 강남) in Pyongyang!  In early 2011 it was reported that Kangnam had been separated from Pyongyang and made part of North Hwanghae Province. However, by 2012, it had been moved back into Pyongyang. The only employer in the town, of which I am aware, is a ceramics factory.

Above I have mapped out the borders of Gangnam (Kangnam/강남), including the town(읍) and all the villages (리), on Google Earth.

If you want to experience some inter-Korean culture shock, and get an idea of just how wide the gulf between the two Koreas has grown, I offer this video of Gangnam (North Korea) which aired on KCTV on 2011-9-24:

If anyone can put this to the real “Gangnam Style” video music, please do so and send me the link!

UPDATE: A Korean friend (Mr. Park) has told me that in South Korea “Gangnam” means “South of the Han River”. This makes sense because in the Korean spelling, Gangnam/강남, 강=river and  남=south. So it is probably the case that the North Korean “Kangnam” would mean “South of the Taedong River”.

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4 Responses to “Friday Fun: Gangnam Style (DPRK)”

  1. GagHalfrunt says:

    Is it just me, or does Psy look a bit like Kim Jong Un?

  2. Three things, Curtis:

    1. is this sort of a “look at our successful community” broadcast?
    2. the video should be footage of this interlaced with the north korean equivalent of spartakiada set to gangnam style
    3. this is super interesting. thank you for sharing!