In a shocking revelation, video footage released by the SAND Institute, an organization working with North Korean defectors, shows North Korean authorities publicly sentencing two teenagers to 12 years of hard labor. The charges? Watching K-pop and South Korean movies. The two 16-year-olds from Pyongyang were convicted of enjoying South Korean entertainment, a forbidden act in the reclusive state.
While Reuters could not independently verify the footage, the BBC initially reported the incident. North Korea has a history of imposing severe sentences on individuals caught consuming South Korean media or adopting South Korean cultural elements. This crackdown intensified with the introduction of a stringent “anti-reactionary thought” law in 2020.
Choi Kyong-hui, president of the SAND Institute and a North Korean defector, suggests that the harsh punishment is likely intended to serve as a warning to the wider North Korean population. It reflects concerns that South Korean culture, particularly among Millennials and Gen Z, is gaining popularity despite efforts to suppress outside influences.
The video, reportedly edited around 2022, presents a large public trial where the two students, clad in grey scrubs and handcuffed, are observed by about 1,000 students in an amphitheater. All participants, including the convicted teenagers, wear face masks, indicating that the footage was recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the video, the students were sentenced after being found guilty of watching and spreading South Korean movies, music, and music videos over a three-month period. The narrator alleges that they were “seduced by foreign culture” and warns that their actions have led to the ruination of their lives. The video also includes scenes of other individuals being handcuffed and North Korean women adopting South Korean fashion and hairstyles.
The situation highlights the ongoing tension between North and South Korea, which technically remain at war since the 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty. The nations are separated by a heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ), and the North Korean regime, led by Kim Jong Un, appears determined to maintain strict control over cultural influences from the South.
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