North Korea has executed two high school students for watching and widely distributing South Korean drama shows among their friends, a report said. Viewing and distributing K-dramas is in conflict with the country’s law.
The teenagers were executed for watching and distributing South Korean movies in a rare display of punishment in the Kim Jong Un regime, reported Radio Free Asia, citing two sources who witnessed it.
The teenagers met at a high school in Ryanggang Province in North Korea, which shares its border with China, in early October, where they watched several Korean and American drama shows, The Independent reported, citing Korean media.
The teenagers were brought in front of the public, sentenced to death, and immediately shot down by the authorities at an airfield in the city, the report said.
According to the Korean regime, the “crimes” committed by the teens were “evil,” and residents in the area were forced to watch the execution.
In 2020, North Korea rolled out the law governing ideological and cultural tools and banned foreign information and influence in a crackdown aimed at the rising popularity of Korean shows and music.
South Korean shows are smuggled on flash drives and watched behind closed doors in order to escape fines or, worse, imprisonment.
