North Korean teens get 12-year sentence for watching K-dramas: Report
What's the story
A video, released by an organization working with North Korean defectors, has shown authorities in North Korea sentencing two teenagers to 12 years of "hard labor" for watching and distributing South Korean dramas and videos.
The footage was released by the South and North Development Institute (SAND).
The video was allegedly filmed during the pandemic, CNN reported, while it might have been edited in 2022, BBC reported.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Neighbors, North Korea and South Korea have remained in a state of war since the conclusion of their 1950-53 conflict with a truce, not a peace treaty.
They are separated by a heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ).
In 2020, North Korea implemented a law that deems watching or distributing South Korean entertainment a capital offense.
Public hearing
Students sentenced in presence of 1,000 people
The video shows a large public trial in which the two students, aged 16, are handcuffed.
They are being watched by about 1,000 students in an amphitheatre.
According to the video, the students were sentenced after being convicted of watching and spreading South Korean movies, music and music videos and three months.
"They were seduced by foreign culture ... and ended up ruining their lives," the narrator says in the video.
Twitter Post
The purported video shared by SAND
Rare footage shows North Korea publicly sentencing two teenage boys to 12 years of hard labour for watching K-dramas pic.twitter.com/fNOcnWGYgB
— VisionaryVoid (@VisionaryVoid) January 18, 2024
North Korea's crackdown
'North threatened by its population being exposed to South's culture'
SAND Institute's director Choi Kyong-hui said the video shows that the government in North Korea is threatened by its population being exposed to South Korean culture.
"Judging from the heavy punishment, it seems that this is to be shown to people across North Korea to warn them," Choi said.
"If you get caught watching an American drama, you can get away with a bribe, but if you watch a Korean drama, you get shot," a North Korean defector told BBC.
Background
Ban on all things South Korean
North Korea's prohibition of anything related to South Korea goes beyond entertainment and encompasses aspects such as mannerisms, vocabulary, and even hairstyles.
In 2021, a South Korean legislator, briefed by the country's intelligence agency, revealed that Pyongyang was enforcing stringent regulations on the attire and speech of young individuals.
The lawmaker cited South Korea's National Intelligence Service, stating that propaganda videos in North Korea condemn behaviors displaying "foreign influence," including public displays of affection.