North Korea executes teens over ‘Squid Game’ as K-Pop crackdown intensifies

North Korea has waged a brutal crackdown on K-pop TV shows and dramas as the regime is blamed for carrying out the executions of teenagers over watching Netflix show Squid Game.

According to Amnesty International, the group of 25 North Koreans, who fled the country between 2009 and 2020 at the age of 15-25, have shared heart-wrenching testimonies related to public execution and punishment.

As per escapees, they were not allowed to watch South Korean dramas, including Squid Game, Descendants of the Sun, and Crash Landing on You and listen to K-Pop music.

If they get caught, the young people would be subjected to harsh and humiliating punishments including death.

An escapee, Kim Eunju, 40, said “When we were 16, 17, in middle school, they took us to executions and showed us everything.”

“People were executed for watching or distributing South Korean media. It's ideological education: if you watch, this happens to you too,” he added.

However, these blood-curdling punishments are only limited to a poor segment of the Communist state. Affluent and wealthy ones have been exempted often after paying off the officials, according to the report.

Another North Korean fugitive, Choi Suvin, shared his harrowing experience. As a part of the crackdown, the authorities instructed everyone to go and publicly witness the execution of a person accused of distributing foreign media in Sinuiju in 2017 or 2018.

“They execute people to brainwash and educate us. People without money sell their houses to gather $5,000 or $10,000 to pay to get out of the re-education camps,” she added.

According to the UN report written by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), North Korea has deployed new and harsh laws, policies and practices to wage more control over citizens.

In 2020, the state enacted the Anti-Reactionary Thought and Culture Act, prohibiting people from consuming South Korean content and subjecting them to 5-15 years of forced labour if they get caught.