Girls rounded up and publicly shamed for watching TV from South Korea
Resurfaced footage shows North Korean girls being publicly shamed and punished for watching forbidden South Korean media.
In the video, several girls – who appear to be teenagers – are seen sitting in a row in a large auditorium with their heads bowed.
They’re berated for their crimes – watching K-dramas – an offence under Kim-Jong-un’s regime.
Meanwhile, a crowd of people, plus several men in military uniform watch on.
The footage shows one girl, identified only as Choi, sobbing as she’s brought to the front.
According to a translation by KBS Media, which obtained the footage, she said: ‘I made the mistake of listening to and distributing impure published propaganda.’
North Korea forbids its people from consuming any foreign news, music, films and TV.
Those caught violating the strict rules can face harsh punishments, including imprisonment and even death.
In a report in 2023, the South Korean Ministry of Unification included testimonies from North Korean defectors who said they witnessed young adults being executed for watching K-dramas and listening to K-pop music.
Despite the potential consequences of disobeying the government, foreign media continues to penetrate North Korea.
A charity, called Flash Drives For Freedom, regularly sends over USB sticks filled with western and South Korean content, as well as interviews with defectors and Korean-language Wikipedia pages.
According to its website: ‘The drives are smuggled into the country using many different methods.
‘A healthy black market distributes the drives throughout North Korea. The majority of North Koreans have access to devices that can read USB drives, SD cards, and microSD cards, using an adapter.’
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