Daily Star
Seven people have been publicly executed in the rogue nation of North Korea for watching K-pop videos, it has been revealed.
A shocking new report from human rights organisation Transitional Justice Working Group shows that 27 death sentences have been carried out in the country since 2011, with a number of these being for ‘watching and distributing’ entertainment from south of the Korean border.
Possession of K-pop music and K-drama soap operas is strictly banned by North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, who has launched a clampdown in recent years in response to the growing popularity of the media among the nation’s citizens and around the world.
Interviews with almost 700 defectors reveal that six of the seven executions were made in the city of Hyesan between 2012 and 2014.
The city is located on the border with China and has become a favourite spot for smugglers, including those who sneak fun content into the country.
As a result, much of the government fightback against the foreign influences is thought to be concentrated in the area.
Members of the public are forced to watch the grim executions — including family members — to act as a warning.
The report says: “Interviewees often stated that the rules on public execution demand that three shooters fire a total of nine bullets into the body of the condemned person”
One defector speaking to the group said that “even when there was fluid leaking from the condemned person’s brain”, local residents were still people “made to stand in line and look at the executed person in the face as a warning message.”
Last month it was reported by the US government-funded station Radio Free Asia that North Korea had sentenced a man to death by firing squad for smuggling and selling the hit Netflix show Squid Game.
Despite calling South Korean entertainment a “vicious cancer”, Kim Jong Un attended a K-Pop concert in the North Korean capital in 2018 as part of a programme to heal diplomatic relations between the two nations.
