韓國肥皂劇 防不勝防的特洛伊木馬

SEOUL, South Korea — As a math professor in North Korea, Jang Se-yul was among the nation’s relatively privileged classes; he got to sit in special seats in restaurants and on crowded trains, and more important in a country where many go hungry, was given priority for government food rations. Then he risked it all — for a soap opera from South Korea.

韓國首爾——作爲朝鮮的一名數學教授，張世悅（Jang Se-yul，音）在這個國家屬於相對的特權階層；他可以在餐館和擁擠不堪的火車上享受專座，更重要的是，在一個許多人需要忍受飢餓的國家裏，他可以優先獲得政府的食品配給。但是後來，他甘願冒失去這一切的風險，只爲一部來自韓國的肥皂劇。

The temptation in this case was “Scent of a Man,” an 18-episode drama about the forbidden love between an ex-convict and his stepsister. A graduate student had offered him the bundle of banned CDs smuggled into the North and, too curious to resist, Mr. Jang and five other professors huddled in one of their homes binge watching until dawn. They were careful to pull the curtains to escape the prying eyes of neighbors taught to turn in their fellow citizens for seditious activities. But they were caught anyway and demoted to manual labor at a power plant.

誘惑他的是一部18集的連續劇——《男人的香氣》(Scent of a Man)，劇情涉及一名前罪犯和隨母親嫁入他家的妹妹之間的禁忌之愛。一名研究生給了他一捆走私至朝鮮的違禁光盤，因爲好奇，張世悅和另外五名教授沒能抵擋住誘惑，他們擠在其中一人的家中，一口氣看到了天亮。他們謹慎地拉上了窗簾，以防止鄰居們的窺探，因爲政府教導民衆要告發從事煽動性活動的其他公民。不過他們還是被抓到了，並被降職到一家發電站從事體力勞動。

Mr. Jang said they most likely escaped prison only because they paid bribes, but facing a lifetime of social stigma — and having had a glimpse of the comforts of South Korea in “Scent of a Man” — he decided to defect. He now leads a defectors’ group that sends soap operas and other entertainment to the North to try to empower people to demand an end to authoritarian rule.

張世悅說，他們沒有坐牢很可能只是因爲行了賄。由於自己將在社會上面臨一生的污點，而且又在《男人的香氣》中領略了韓國的舒適生活，他決定逃離朝鮮。他現在是一個脫北者團體的負責人，該組織把肥皂劇和其他娛樂節目送到朝鮮，促使人們提出結束獨裁統治的要求。

“I am sure these soaps have an impact on North Koreans, and I am the proof,” he said. “In the future, if they spread, they can even help foster anti-government movements. That’s why the North Korean authorities are so desperate to stop them from spreading.”

“我相信這些肥皂劇會對朝鮮人產生影響，我本人就是證明，”他說。“未來，如果它們得到傳播，甚至可以激發反政府活動。這就是朝鮮當局不顧一切地阻止它們傳播的原因。”

The decidedly lowbrow dramas — with names like “Bad Housewife” and “Red Bean Bread” — have, in fact, become something of a cultural Trojan horse, sneaking visions of the bustling South into the tightly controlled, impoverished North alongside the usual sudsy fare of betrayals, bouts of ill-timed amnesia and, at least once, a love affair with an alien.

這些明顯很俗氣的劇集——它們被冠以“不良主婦”(Bad Housewife)和“甜甜圈”(Red Bean Bread)這樣的劇名——實際上已經成了一種文化上的特洛伊木馬，除了司空見慣的背叛劇情、不合時宜的失憶橋段，以及至少在一部劇中出現過的人類與外星人的愛情故事，它們還把有關繁華韓國的影像偷偷送到了受到嚴格管控的貧窮的朝鮮。

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has issued increasingly pointed warnings to his subjects about the “poisonous elements of capitalism” crossing China’s border with the North, tempting even his Communist elite. Defectors say there has been a severe crackdown on smugglers, and in the fall, South Korean intelligence reported hearing that Mr. Kim was so shaken by the spread of the soaps that he ordered the execution of 10 Workers’ Party officials accused of succumbing to the shows’ allure, according to lawmakers who had been briefed on the matter at a parliamentary hearing.

朝鮮領導人金正恩(Kim Jong-un)向臣民們發出了越來越有針對性的警告，稱從中朝邊境流入的“資本主義毒素”甚至讓共產主義精英都受到了誘惑。脫北者稱，走私者受到了嚴厲打擊。在議會的聽證會上聽取了有關情況的韓國議員們說，去年秋天，韓國情報部門稱，他們聽說金正恩因爲肥皂劇的蔓延而震怒，下令處決了10名被指受到這些劇集誘惑的勞動黨(Workers’ Party)官員。

Few people outside North Korea think the TV adventures of the lust-driven and lovelorn could lead to the overthrow of the Kim family dynasty, which has survived for decades despite international isolation and sanctions. But the infiltration of the dramas into even elite circles, despite the threat of prison or worse, is a potent indication of the challenges Mr. Kim faces in a globalized world. (The swift arrival in the North of at least some bootleg copies of “The Interview,” the comedy that North Korea viewed as an “act of war,” is another.)

在朝鮮之外，幾乎沒人認爲那些陷入感情糾葛的角色在電視上的喜怒哀樂會顛覆金氏王朝。儘管在國際上受到孤立並遭受制裁，金氏王朝已然存活了幾十年。但就連權貴階層的圈子也遭到了韓劇的滲透，哪怕可能面臨着監禁或更嚴重的後果。這有力地證明了金正恩在全球化的世界中面對的種種挑戰。（電影《採訪》(Interview)的盜版迅速進入朝鮮是又一例證。這部喜劇被朝鮮視作“戰爭行爲”。）

Since he came to power in 2011, Mr. Kim has struggled to open the North just enough to keep his top loyalists happy, plying them with imported goods, while maintaining control in a country where government-installed intercoms in every home still blare reminders of required ideological education classes. He allowed an estimated two million people, close to 10 percent of the population, to own cellphones, but ensured they could not call abroad. And, despite a crackdown, the country has seemed unwilling, or unable, to fully dismantle the smuggling networks that bring in not only banned soap operas, movies and K-pop videos, but also much-needed trade.

自2011年掌權以來，金正恩一直艱難地把朝鮮的開放程度限制在讓最忠誠的支持者滿意的範圍內，定期向他們提供進口商品，與此同時在這個國家，政府安裝的內部通話系統仍然播放着人們必須瞭解的意識形態教育內容。他允許約10%的人口，即200萬人擁有手機，但又確保他們不能與國外通話。此外，儘管採取了打擊行動，這個國家似乎不願或者無法徹底消滅走私的網絡，這個走私網絡不僅帶來了被禁的肥皂劇、電影和韓國流行音樂視頻，也帶來了急需的貿易。

Defectors say the soaps have had an outsize impact, less for their often outlandish plots than their portrayals of the creature comforts of South Korea — a direct contradiction to decades of indoctrination about the inferiority of the South, and capitalism. It was those portraits of wealth, Jeon Hyo-jin said, that inspired her to make the dangerous decision to flee in 2013 at the age of 18.

脫北者稱，肥皂劇的影響力非常大，主要原因並不是離奇的劇情，而是劇中描述的韓國物質上的富足——與幾十年來有關韓國和資本主義的低劣灌輸截然相反。全孝珍（Jeon Hyo-jin，音）說，正是這些關於富足生活的刻畫，促使她做出了危險的決定，在2013年逃離了朝鮮，那一年她18歲。

“The kitchens with hot and cold tap water, people dating in a cafe, cars clogging streets, women wearing different clothes each day — unlike us who wore the same padded jacket, day in day out,” said Ms. Jeon, who lives in Seoul. “Through the dramas, I learned how strange my own country was, how full of lies.”

“廚房有冷熱自來水，男女在咖啡館約會，街上塞滿了車，女人每天換衣服——不像我們，成天穿着一樣的棉服，”眼下在首爾生活的全女士說。“看着這些電視劇，我知道了自己的國家是多麼地奇怪，充滿了謊話。”

North Korea is one of the last frontiers for South Korea’s soap operas, which have found growing audiences worldwide, including in the United States and in such unlikely places as Cuba. The reasons for the widespread appeal are not entirely clear. Some people credit their emotionally charged plots; others the enviable fashions that are part of the “Korean Wave.”

韓國肥皂劇正在世界範圍內贏得越來越多的觀衆，包括在美國，甚至是古巴這樣意想不到的地方，而朝鮮屬於它們進軍的最後一塊前沿。如此廣泛流行背後的原因並不十分清楚，一些人將其歸結於劇情跌宕起伏；還有一些人覺得是令人豔羨的“韓流”時尚風格。

But in North Korea, defectors say, the reasons are obvious. The two Koreas share an ancient culture and language. And what counts as entertainment north of the border is severely limited, especially since all TVs and radios are preset to receive only state broadcasts.

不過脫北者表示，韓國肥皂劇在朝鮮受歡迎的理由不言而喻。朝韓兩國擁有共同的古老文化和語言。在邊界線以北的朝鮮，所謂的娛樂屈指可數，尤其是因爲所有的電視機與收音機都經過了預先設置，只能接收官方播送的信號。

“In North Korean movies,” said Ms. Jeon, “it’s all about loyalty to the leader and the party; the state before love. You should be ready to die for the leader, blah blah. In South Korean dramas, it was different. I found a whole new world there.”

“在朝鮮影片裏，”全女士說，“描繪的全都是對領袖和黨的忠誠，國家要高於愛情。你應該時刻準備爲領袖犧牲之類的。韓國電視劇就完全不一樣。我在裏面發現了一個全新的世界。”

Most of the border trade is driven by money, defectors said, not ideology, but some defectors and pro-democracy groups also help arrange for the contraband material to be smuggled into the North.

脫北者稱，兩國間多數邊境貿易活動的驅動因素是經濟利益，並非意識形態。但也有部分脫北者和親民主團體，會協助安排將這類違禁品偷運到朝鮮。

The flow of entertainment began in the 1990s with the first real fissures in the North’s almost impregnable information blockade. In the face of a devastating famine, desperate North Korean authorities began turning a blind eye to people crossing into China to seek food and other goods to sell at home.

娛樂作品的流入始於上世紀90年代。那時候，朝鮮幾乎密不透風的信息封鎖出現了第一絲真正的裂縫。在毀滅性的饑荒面前，陷入絕境的朝鮮當局開始對越境進入中國，尋找食物等可以在本國販售的物品的那些人睜一隻眼閉一隻眼。

Foreign video tapes, CDs and DVDs, as well as cheap Chinese devices to play them, quickly became black market best-sellers.

外國錄像帶、CD和DVD，以及中國生產的廉價播放設備，很快成爲了黑市上的熱銷產品。

Recognizing the danger, Mr. Kim’s father, Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011, set up swat teams that barged into homes, cutting off the electricity before entering to prevent viewers from removing discs from their DVD players. But defectors say the suppliers have worked hard to foil inspectors, importing battery powered DVD players as well as more easily hidden flash drives.

意識到其中的風險後，金正恩已於2011年去世的父親金正日(Kim Jong-il)建立了搜查民宅的突擊隊。他們會在闖入之前切斷電源，以防偷看的人把碟片從DVD機中取出。不過，根據脫北者的描述，爲了糊弄搜查人員，供應商使出了渾身解數，偷運了使用電池的DVD機，還有更容易藏起來的閃存盤。

“It’s a cat-and-mouse game,” said Chung Kwang-il, another defector, who runs a smuggling operation. “These days, they call me to ask for specific soaps and K-pop music videos so they can beat competition in the markets. It’s not a one-way flow anymore.”

“這是個貓鼠遊戲，”經營着走私生意的脫北者鄭光日（Chung Kwang-il，音）說。“如今，他們會給我打電話，點名要帶某些肥皂劇和韓國流行音樂的視頻，這樣才能在市場競爭中取勝。這已經不是單向流動了。”

Analysts and defectors alike say there are limits to how much outside entertainment can accomplish. A recent study by Seoul National University’s Institute for Peace and Unification of 149 recent defectors showed that more than eight in 10 had been exposed to South Korean movies or songs before fleeing the North. But most of them lived in areas close to China, where it is easier for smugglers to maneuver, and it is unclear how widely such entertainment has spread.

分析人士與脫北者均表示，境外娛樂作品能取得的成效是有限的。首爾大學統一和平研究所(Institute for Peace and Unification)近期以149名脫北者爲對象開展的一項研究顯示，逾80%的人在逃離朝鮮之前接觸過韓國的電影或歌曲。不過，他們當中，多數人當初居住在靠近中國的區域，那裏比較便於偷運者施展神通。而且，此類娛樂作品的覆蓋面究竟有多廣，也沒有定論。

Still, the defectors say that the soaps are a potent tool for exposing North Koreans to the outside world after years of mixed results from official psychological warfare that included shortwave radio broadcasts and propaganda messages blared over the border from loudspeakers in the South.

雖說如此，脫北者還是認爲，對於讓朝鮮民衆接觸外部世界來說，肥皂劇是一種強有力的手段；而韓國官方多年來的心理戰取得的結果則是好壞參半。韓國官方的心理戰包括，製作短波廣播節目，以及在韓國臨近邊境的地區設立揚聲器，大聲播放宣傳內容。

For some North Koreans, the emotional tug of the soaps was powerful enough to change their lives, forever.

對一些朝鮮人而言，韓國肥皂劇強烈的情感號召力足以改變他們的生活，而且是永久性的。

Kim Seung-hee, 24, is one. She watched her first drama, “Stairway to Heaven,” courtesy of soldiers who asked to use her home for safe watching, and was hooked immediately, drawn not only to South Korea’s freedoms, but also to the promise of love in a more open society.

24歲的金崇熙（Kim Seung-hee，音）就是這樣的一個例子。她看的第一部韓國電視劇是《天國的階梯》(Stairway to Heaven)，因爲有幾名軍人爲了安全看片而借用了她的住所。她馬上就被迷住了，不僅是韓國的種種自由，還有在一個更開放的社會裏收穫愛情的誘惑。

“South Korean men in the films had such good manners toward women, unlike North Korean men who like to order us around,” she said. “It made me yearn for South Korea, dreaming of meeting such a man.”

“片子裏的韓國男人對女人非常地禮貌，不像那些喜歡對我們呼來喝去的朝鮮男人，”她說。“這讓我對韓國心生渴望，夢想着遇見這樣的一個男人。”