A rare video from North Korea captures the public sentencing of two teenagers to 12 years of hard labor for watching South Korean TV dramas.
The footage, obtained by NBC News from the South and North Development (SAND) Institute, provides a glimpse into the secretive state led by Kim Jong Un.
The teens, clad in gray jumpsuits, stand before hundreds of students in a stadium as uniformed officers criticize them for not adequately reflecting on their alleged mistakes.
Such videos are infrequently accessible to those outside North Korea, where residents are prohibited from sharing evidence of their daily lives with other countries.
The footage underscores the strict control over information within the country, where residents and travelers must adhere to designated routes, and photography is severely restricted.
The video, initially reported by the BBC, was obtained by the SAND Institute, a think tank working with defectors. The institute’s CEO, Choi Kyong-hui, who defected from North Korea in 2001, suggests that the video may have been edited in 2022. NBC News, however, could not independently verify the video or confirm the charges.
Choi speculates that the video aims to intimidate North Koreans, discouraging them from sharing and consuming South Korean entertainment such as K-dramas and K-pop. North Korea has a history of imprisoning residents for engaging with South Korean culture, reflecting the ongoing tensions between the two countries, which technically remain at war since 1953.
In the video, a narrator accuses the teenagers of succumbing to South Korean culture, and their names and home addresses are disclosed.
The strict control over cultural influence is reinforced by the “Let’s Intensify Efforts to Eradicate All Forms of Reactionary and Non-Socialist Phenomena” law enacted in 2020.
This law allows officials to impose severe penalties, including capital punishment, for importing or distributing materials showcasing South Korean culture.
Choi notes that the government’s focus is on halting the circulation of South Korean entertainment. While the crackdown may be a temporary measure, she believes that attempts to suppress South Korean cultural influence will ultimately fail, as people will resume engaging with K-dramas and K-pop once government campaigns subside.