North Korean defectors have described how K-pop, despite being banned and punishable by imprisonment, has become widely known even inside the isolated state, challenging its attempt to make Kim Jong Un the country's only "idol". Testimonies gathered by the BBC show groups such as BTS and Blackpink, along with earlier acts like Girls' Generation, Teen Top and 2PM, have reached North Korean audiences through smuggled and secretly shared media, offering a rare glimpse of an outside world otherwise kept from citizens through surveillance and strict control.

Defectors including Lee Yeon-su, who left North Korea in 2011, and Kang Gyu-ri, who fled in 2023, recounted first hearing South Korean music only after escaping, while others said they listened to K-pop in secret back home, often not knowing the artists' names. BTS's 2020 English-language hit "Dynamite" is cited as a track that resonated widely despite the language barrier, and the group's Korean name has reportedly entered everyday North Korean slang. Now living in South Korea, some defectors, including Yeon-su, have attended multiple BTS concerts, describing the freedom to choose who to support as something previously unimaginable.