North Korea’s Kim Jong-un is unleashing his wrath on innocent youngsters. Why? For consuming the South Korean thriller Squid Game and listening to K-pop. Amnesty International, a human rights group, revealed that in North Korea, anyone spotted or caught watching
South Korean dramas or movies can face stringent punishment ranging from long-term labour re-education to public execution.
However, justice comes here with a price tag. According to its report, those who could pay bribes escaped lightly, while the harshest punishment was faced by those who could not.
Public execution for watching K-dramas
Amnesty International said it compiled the report based on in-depth interviews conducted last year with 25 people who fled the Kim Jong-un regime. These dissidents, who defected from North Korea between 2019 and 2020, claimed that North Korea is executing young children, including schoolchildren, for watching Korean dramas and listening to K-Pop. It is also forcing young children to watch public executions of their peers as a deterrent against consuming foreign media. It said other punishments for doing so included imprisonment or forced labour.
North Korea’s 2020 “Law on the Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture” was introduced to obstruct foreign influence, putting a strong focus on South Korean entertainment. Under the law, anyone convicted of watching or even possessing South Korean dramas, films or music can result in five to 15 years of forced labour.
It also prescribes heavy sentences, including the death penalty, for the distribution of “large amounts” of content or for organising group viewings, The Sun reported.
Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director, Sarah Brooks, asserted that testimonies from residents who were able to escape reflect the severity of the nation’s ‘dystopian’ laws. She said, “Watching a South Korean TV show can cost you your life, unless you can afford to pay.”
Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director, Sarah Brooks, said that testimonies from residents reflect the severity of the nation’s ‘dystopian’ laws. File image/Reuters
“The authorities criminalise access to information in violation of international law, then allow officials to profit off those fearing punishment. This is repression layered with corruption, and it most devastates those without wealth or connections.”
Brooks said North Koreans are placed into an ‘ideological cage’ because the government is so afraid of outside information and ideas.
“Punishment depends entirely on money”
People who testified to Amnesty International said that only those who can afford to pay massive bribes can escape punishment.
Choi Suvin, 39, who left North Korea in 2019, told Amnesty International, “People are caught for the same act, but punishment depends entirely on money.”
“Those without money sell their houses to gather $5,000 or $10,000 (around Rs 4 lakh to Rs 8 lakh) to pay to get out of the re-education camps,” Choi added.
The report also noted cases where students escaped punishment due to their family contacts within the Kim regime.
Kim Joonsik, 28, fled North Korea in 2019. Joonsik told Amnesty International that he was caught watching South Korean dramas three times. However, he somehow managed to avoid punishment because of his family’s strong connections.
The report also noted cases where students escaped punishment due to their family contacts within the Kim regime. File image/Reuters
“Usually when high school students are caught, if their family has money, they just get warnings,” he said. “I did not face legal punishment thanks to my family’s connections.”
However, those lacking financial means or connections were sentenced to long sentences in labour and re-education camps.
However, Amnesty noted that in some instances, even money or connections could not save individuals, especially when Kim ordered an intense crackdown.
The report mentioned that the North Korean authorities have delegated a specialised body, ‘109 Sangmu,’ within the State Security Department to clamp down on foreign media.
‘109 Sangmu’ conducts indiscriminate searches, including checking the bags and mobile phones of people on the streets. Members of the body also openly demand bribes and detain North Koreans and their families without a warrant.
“Students forced to watch public executions”
Some interviewees also recounted how they were, as schoolchildren, forced to witness public executions as part of their “ideological training.” Choi recalled witnessing a public execution in the city of Sinuiju, either in 2017 or 2018. The individual had been accused of distributing foreign media.
“Authorities told everyone to go, and tens of thousands of people from Sinuiju city gathered to watch. They execute people to brainwash and educate us,” Choi said. Kim Eun-ju, 40, who defected in 2019, told the Chosun newspaper, “I witnessed public executions since middle school.”
Interviewees described a climate of fear in which South Korean culture is treated as a serious crime. File image/Reuters
“It seemed like an educational showing. This is what happens if you watch or spread South Korean media. Even schools also served as venues for public humiliation.”
Kim Ye-rim, 26, who fled the country in 2019, said that she witnessed ten high school seniors receiving “public reprimands” because they watched foreign TV programmes for many hours.
Amnesty International has urged the North Korean authorities to repeal legislation that criminalises foreign media access, including the “Law on Rejecting Reactionary Ideology and Culture,” and to end both executions and public executions.
Brooks said, “The North Korean authorities’ fear of information inflow suffocates the entire population, trapping them in an ideological prison. Even those who merely wish to know the outside world or enjoy simple entertainment face the most brutal punishments.”
“This must be dismantled to allow North Korean residents to enjoy the freedoms they rightfully deserve,” she added, according to Chosun newspaper.
With inputs from agencies
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