BBC Korea recently obtained footage from 2022 showing two 16-year-old North Korean boys being publicly sentenced to 12 years of hard labor. Their crime? Watching K-dramas. The footage, captured in an outdoor stadium filled with students, shows the boys in handcuffs as uniformed officers chastise them for their actions. Such footage is exceptionally rare. North Korea forbids the leaking of photos, videos, or any evidence of life in the country to the outside world. This clip has reportedly been used in North Korea for ideological education and to warn citizens against watching “decadent recordings.”
The South and North Development (SAND) Institute, a non-profit organization working with North Korean defectors, gave the footage to BBC Korea. The clip includes narration echoing state propaganda and condemning the influence of South Korean culture. It also reveals the boys’ full names and addresses. Historically, minors involved in cases like this ended up in youth labor camps. However, recent developments indicate the imposition of harsher penalties.
North Korean teens sentenced to hard labour for watching South Korean films
Life in North Korea is difficult
In 2020, Pyongyang implemented a law that made consuming or distributing South Korean music, movies, or TV shows punishable by death. According to SAND CEO Choi Kyong-hui, Pyongyang sees the spread of K-dramas and K-pop as a threat. North Korean officials are afraid that admiration for South Korean culture could weaken their monolithic ideology centered around the Kim family.
North Koreans first got a taste of South Korean media in the 2000s. At the time, South Korea had a “sunshine policy,” which saw them offer economic and humanitarian aid to the North. Seoul ended the policy in 2010, but South Korean media continues to reach the North by way of China.
For many North Koreans, K-dramas help them forget how difficult life in the North is. Another defector in her 20s remarked, “In North Korea, we learn that South Korea lives much worse than us, but when you watch South Korean dramas, it’s a completely different world.” That statement is exactly why North Korean authorities are intent on keeping their people from consuming South Korean media. – K-Pop News Writer
Featured Image: In North Korea, consuming all forms of South Korean media is illegal. Source: YouTube/@guardiannews.