North Korea is reportedly executing people, including schoolchildren, and subjecting them to brutal public humiliation for watching South Korean TV shows, including the wildly popular “Squid Game” and listening to K-Pop.
According to the testimonies collected by Fr Amnesty InternationalNorth Koreans who have fled the country say watching widely popular South Korean dramas — such as Crash Landing on You, Descendants of the Sun and Squid Game — or listening to K-pop can result in the harshest punishments, including death.
A wave of fear has gripped the nation, where South Korean culture is treated as a serious crime. While wealthier families can sometimes avoid punishment by paying bribes to corrupt officials, those without money and influential contacts are said to face the harshest consequences.
“Newer South Korean content makes its way to North Korea”
Those interviewed told Amnesty International that more recent South Korean content is reaching North Korea faster than in the past. They pointed to hit dramas from the 1910s, including Crash Landing on You – notable for its setting in North Korea – and Descendants of the Sun, which focuses on the military.
One interviewee even said that a refugee with family ties in Yanggang Province said that people, including high school students, had been executed for watching Squid Game. Radio Free Asia separately documented an execution in North Hamgyong Province in 2021 for distributing the series. Taken together, accounts from different provinces indicate several executions associated with the performance.
Listening to K-pop music can also lead to punishment
Listening to South Korean pop music is also a target for authorities, interviewees said. K-pop songs, including those by BTS, were selected. In 2021, The Korea Times reported that North Korean teenagers were caught and punished for listening to BTS.
“The punishment depends on the money”
North Koreans who defected between 2012 and 2020 said people routinely watched South Korean television despite knowing the risks, but that punishment often depended on wealth and connections.
Kim Joonsik, 28, said he was caught watching South Korean dramas three times before leaving the country in 2019, but escaped punishment because his family had connections.
“Usually when high school kids get caught, if their family has money, they just get a warning,” he said. “I was not punished by law because we had intercourse,” Joonsik told Amnesty International.