- North Korea has reportedly executed 30 middle school students for watching South Korean dramas.
- The program was reportedly stored on a USB that was sent across the border by a North Korean defector.
- North Korea has been accused of imposing harsh punishments on anyone found watching South Korean media.
In North Korea, watching your favorite Korean drama could end in tragedy.
The South Korean news agency Chosun TV Korea JoongAng IlboLast week, about 30 middle school students were publicly shot while watching a Korean drama.
The program was reportedly stored on a USB that was sent across the border by a North Korean defector.
Business Insider was unable to independently verify the report.
South Korean authorities did not directly comment on the reports, but the Korea JoongAng Ilbo quoted an anonymous South Korean Unification Ministry official as telling reporters, “It is widely known that the North Korean authorities are strictly controlling and severely punishing their residents based on the so-called ‘evil’ three laws.”
One of them is North Korea Reactionary ideology and cultural rejection lawsprohibits individuals from distributing media that originated in South Korea, the United States, or Japan.
These limitations include, for example: Russian elementary school students preparing to attend summer camp domestic.
Greg Scarlatoi, executive director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, told BI that “these reports are certainly credible in a context where there was initially a crackdown on outside information using COVID-19 as an excuse.”
This is not the first time a North Korean has been reported killed for his involvement with content from his southern neighbor.
According to a 2022 UN Secretary-General report, a man in Gangwon province was shot dead by public firing squad after being discovered selling South Korean digital content by a Neighborhood Watch unit.
a 2024 North Korea Human Rights Report, A report published by South Korea’s Unification Ministry claimed that North Korean mobile phones are regularly checked for the use of “Korean-style language” and that wearing a white wedding dress is punishable as “reactionary”.
The video was released Earlier this year, two teenagers were sentenced to 12 years’ hard labor for watching K-pop videos.
Despite eyewitness testimony, Amnesty InternationalThe North Korean government denies that public executions take place in the country.
According to North Korean authorities, the last execution took place in 1992.
North Korea is still technically at war with South Korea, with the 1950s conflict ending in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
The defectors Korea Herald In 2020, North Korean parents were forced to sign a document pledging to prevent their children from watching “impure video content” at home.
recently, Experts speculate It has been reported that North Korean soldiers may be deployed to support Russian operations in Ukraine. Closer ties Meeting between North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un and Russian President Putin.
North Korean representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
