The BBC got the footage from the South and North Development (Sand) research institute, which works with defectors from North Korea. It shows how two boys are sentenced in an open-air stadium under the watchful eyes of hundreds of students.
The video is rare because it is forbidden in North Korea to release images of daily life. In this case, it is suspected that North Korea itself distributed the images to warn citizens not to watch South Korean series. This is strictly prohibited in the country.
“They are only 16 years old, but they have ruined their own future,” says a voice in the video, writes the BBC. “The culture of the rotten puppet regime has spread even among teenagers.” The puppet regime refers to South Korea.
Death penalty
In North Korea, you can get the death penalty for watching or distributing South Korean entertainment. For example, a defector previously told the BBC that he saw a 22-year-old man shot dead for listening to South Korean music.
Many North Koreans do not have a TV. Those who do have a TV can only watch government channels full of propaganda. However, smugglers bring foreign series into the country via the Chinese border. Those series are on USB sticks. South Korean drama series, despite being banned, are extremely popular among the North Korean population.
2024-01-18 16:29:14
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