The footage shows two 16-year-old boys being handcuffed in front of hundreds of people, except for similarly dressed students, at an outdoor stadium. One of the uniformed police then reprimanded them for not “thinking deeply about their mistake”, the website said BBC station.
The video also features a narrator repeating North Korean state propaganda. “The culture of the rotten puppet regime has spread even among teenagers,” said the voice, referring to South Korea. “They are only 16 years old and they have already managed to destroy their own future,” he added.
The two boys were supposed to watch South Korean dramas, which, like all South Korean entertainment, are banned in North Korea. Even so, some people are willing to risk severe punishment for this kind of entertainment. South Korean TV series, also known as K-dramas, are popular all over the world.
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Footage like this is rare because North Korea prohibits photos, videos and other evidence of life in the country from being leaked to the outside world.
Heavier punishment
Additionally, the report confirms that authorities are acting more forcefully than before against similar incidents. In 2020, Pyongyang passed a law making watching or distributing South Korean entertainment punishable by death. Previously, according to the BBC, they would probably not have received 12 years of hard labor, but rather shorter sentences in juvenile labor camps.
According to the television, this clip will be distributed throughout North Korea with the aim of ideological education and warning citizens not to watch “decadent series”.
One defector previously told the BBC that he was forced to witness with his own eyes the 22-year-old man being shot dead. He said the man was accused of listening to South Korean music and sharing South Korean films with his friends.
“If you are caught watching American dramas, you can get away with bribes, but if you watch Korean dramas, they will shoot you,” one North Korean defector told BBC Korea on Thursday.
“For North Koreans, Korean dramas are 'medicine' that helps them forget the harsh reality,” added the defector.
“In North Korea, we learn that South Koreans live much worse than us, but when you watch South Korean dramas, it's a completely different world. The North Korean authorities seem to be wary of this,” said another North Korean defector.
Who will replace Kim? His daughter, Soul thought
“Unapologetic social media guru. General reader. Incurable pop culture specialist.”
