Young North Koreans are increasingly flashing V signs and other hand gestures to express their emotions, a habit that marks a clear departure from older generations, according to sources inside the country.
A source in North Korea told Daily NK on Friday that “you never used to see people making a V sign with their fingers or holding two fingers under their chin, but these days young people exchange those gestures when they’re with people close to them.” The source added, “They’re careful about it around adults or strangers, but they do it naturally when they’re with friends their own age.”
According to the source, today’s young North Koreans have no hesitation about showing their feelings with their hands. Common examples include forming a V with the index and middle fingers, or spreading the thumb and index finger and holding them under the chin, both used to signal excitement or a good mood.
Older generations mainly expressed emotion through words and facial expressions, not by forming specific shapes with their fingers, the source said. Younger North Koreans, by contrast, have added hand gestures to words and expressions as another outlet for conveying how they feel.
Gestures stay within trusted circles
The gestures are generally confined to trusted friends, however. With authorities tightly restricting the inflow of outside culture, young people risk being suspected of watching foreign videos and copying capitalist culture if they use such gestures too openly.
The source also said the spread of gesture-based expression has been helped along by state-produced footage featuring a thumbs up gesture, known colloquially in Korean as “eomjijeok.”
In the music video for “A Loving Parent,” a 2024 song praising North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, people are shown smiling and giving a thumbs up. Giving a thumbs up to mean “good” or “the best” has reportedly spread more widely among North Korean people since the video’s release.
“Giving a thumbs up was something you’d occasionally see before, but young people today joking around and showing emotion with V signs or a hand under the chin is a change you never saw in the past,” the source said. “Even if this comes from the influence of outside culture, it will be difficult to control every gesture that young people privately exchange with each other.”
Reporting from inside North Korea
Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information through secure channels. Unlike reporting based on state media, satellite imagery, or defector accounts from years past, our journalism comes directly from people currently living under the regime. We verify reports through multiple independent sources and cross-reference details before publication.
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August 31, 2026 at 02:43AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)