Segun Atanda/
Schoolchildren are among those being executed in North Korea for watching foreign television programmes, including the South Korean hit series Squid Game, according to new testimony released by Amnesty International.
The human rights organisation said it uncovered evidence of killings and other severe punishments after conducting 25 in depth interviews with North Koreans who escaped from the country ruled by Kim Jong un.
The accounts describe a climate of fear in which exposure to South Korean culture is treated as a grave crime, even for minors.
According to the testimonies, citizens have been put to death for consuming or distributing foreign media such as South Korean dramas and K pop music.
Amnesty said the punishments extend to schoolchildren, with reports of high school students being executed for watching Squid Game in Yanggang Province, near the Chinese border.
One interviewee told Amnesty they learned through family links that several people, including students, were killed after being caught watching the series.
Another execution linked to the distribution of a South Korean programme was previously reported by Radio Free Asia in North Hamgyong Province in 2021.
“Taken together, these reports from different provinces suggest multiple executions related to the shows,” Amnesty International said.
The escapees described how globally popular dramas such as Squid Game, Crash Landing on You and Descendants of the Sun are viewed as particularly serious offences by the authorities, carrying the risk of death or long prison sentences.
Despite the harsh penalties, foreign media consumption is said to be widespread.
Interviewees explained that films, dramas and music are often smuggled into the country from China on USB drives and watched on notebook computers.
One former resident said viewing habits cut across society. “Workers watch it openly, party officials watch it proudly, security agents watch it secretly, and police watch it safely,” the interviewee said, adding that enforcement is uneven and often shaped by corruption.
Amnesty also noted that poorer citizens are more likely to face the harshest punishments, while wealthier North Koreans can sometimes pay bribes to avoid prosecution.
Most of those interviewed were between the ages of 15 and 25 when they escaped.
The most recent departure fled in June 2020, with the majority leaving between 2019 and 2020.
Escapes from North Korea have become increasingly rare since 2020, when strict COVID 19 border closures effectively sealed the country off from the outside world.
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