Human rights researchers announced in early February that teenagers were executed for watching the South Korean television series “Squid Game” and listening to K-pop.
Amnesty International from an escapee with family ties in Yanggang Province who said people—including schoolchildren—were executed specifically for watching the popular survival drama series.
It also separately documented accounts of forced labor sentences and public humiliation for consuming South Korean media elsewhere in the country, particularly for those without money or political connections.
“Usually, when high school students are caught, if their family has money, they just get warnings,” said Kim Joonsik, 28, who was caught watching South Korean dramas three times before leaving the country in 2019.
“I didn’t receive legal punishment because ,” he told Amnesty International in an interview.
Joonsik said three of his sister’s high school friends were given multi-year labor camp sentences in the late 2010s after being caught watching South Korean dramas—a punishment he said reflected their families’ inability to pay bribes.
“The authorities criminalize access to information in violation of international law, then let officials profit from those fearing punishment. This is repression layered with corruption, and it hits hardest those without wealth or connections,” said Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director.
“This government’s fear of information has effectively put the entire population in an ideological cage, suffocating their access to the views and thoughts of other human beings,” she added. “People who try to learn more about the world outside North Korea, or seek simple overseas entertainment, face the .”
Several defectors told the human rights organization that they were required to witness public executions while still in school, describing the practice as a form of state-mandated indoctrination meant to deter exposure to foreign culture.
“When we were 16 or 17, in middle school, they took us to executions and showed us everything,” said Kim Eunju, 40. “People were executed for watching or distributing South Korean media. It’s ideological education—if you watch, this happens to you too.”