Camilla Jessen
Accounts from people who have escaped North Korea are shedding new light on how strictly the country polices foreign culture.
Amnesty International says it has collected testimony from North Koreans who fled the country describing executions, prison sentences and public humiliation linked to watching foreign media.
According to Amnesty, the regime under Kim Jong Un treats South Korean television and music as a serious ideological threat.
Escapees told the organization that people who watched or listened to South Korean content, including K-pop and television dramas, faced harsh punishment.
Some said executions were carried out for watching shows such as Squid Game, Crash Landing on You and Descendants of the Sun.
One person who fled North Korea said they heard from another escapee that several people, including high school students, had been executed for watching Squid Game.
Unequal punishment
According to the testimonies, punishment was not applied evenly.
Escapees said wealthier citizens were sometimes able to avoid severe penalties by paying bribes, in some cases selling their homes to raise the money.
At the same time, those without resources were made examples of.
People who escaped said it was widely known that South Korean media circulated secretly across the country, even among officials tasked with enforcing bans.
They said: “Workers watch it openly, party officials watch it proudly, security agents watch it secretly, and police watch it safely. Everyone knows everyone watches, including those who do the crackdowns.”
Public executions
Several escapees described being forced to attend public executions as a form of intimidation and education. Choi Suvin, who escaped in 2019, said authorities ordered mass attendance.
“Authorities told everyone to go, and tens of thousands of people from Sinuiju city gathered to watch,” she said. “They execute people to brainwash and educate us.”
Others said schools took students to executions for what officials called ideological education, warning them of the consequences of consuming banned media.
Laws and prior reports
In 2020, North Korea passed the Law on the Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture, which allows the death penalty for watching, distributing or owning foreign media.
Radio Free Asia reported in 2021 that a man was executed for smuggling copies of Squid Game into the country.
Sources: Amnesty International, Radio Free Asia
