Seven North Korean high school students have been given jail sentences for watching the Netflix hit series Squid Game. The smuggler who brought copies of the show from China and sold them in USB flash drives is given a death sentence by the state authorities.
The act of consumption of foreign media violates the “Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture” law.
Elimination Of Reactionary Thought And Culture
One will be punished in North Korea if found possessing, distributing or viewing media from foreign capitalist countries, specifically the U.S and South Korea. The law officially sanctioned last year can even provide the death penalty.
According to RFA reports from 2020, students were sentenced to punishment if they used South Korean drama slang or sarcastic phrases. Their phones were in surveillance from time to time.
There is a ban on watching foreign shows in North Korea for fear that it will cause resistance. The oppressive, poverty-stricken, and rigid structural regime of North Korea does not provide individual freedom to the common public.
Many North Korean defectors in a Washington Post survey have said they had access to foreign media. These media sources showed the freedom of citizens in other nations.
Also Read: Watch: Five Asian Series/Movies Like Squid Game To Binge Next
Penalization Of The Students And Smuggler
The student from North Hamgyong Province who bought the flash drive from the smuggler got a sentence of life imprisonment. Six other students had access to the flash drive. They have been penalized for five years of hard labor.
Squid Games pits the marginalized low-income class against each other in a survival game format. The dystopian show replica of the social reality motivates the viewers to raise voices against oppression.
An anonymous source has stated to RFA, “They say that the content is similar to the lives of Pyongyang officials who fight in the foreign currency market as if it is a fight for life and death”
Anxiety Of Public
Many are afraid that the further interrogation of the seven students will expose more violators. The government has commented that these shows were hampering the education of students. The school homeroom teacher, principal, and youth secretary have been dismissed.
The source commented to RFA that they might be either exiled to rural regions or made to work in mines. Other homeroom teachers and students are anxious about any possible link towards them.
Now North Korean markets are raided to find illegal CDs and flash drives. There is a sense of uncertainty and anxiousness amongst the public.
Image Credits: Google Photos
Source: India Today,RFA & RFA
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This post is tagged under: North Korea, Death sentence, USB Smuggler, Abdul Ali, Alice in Borderland, Squid Game, As the Gods Will, Asian dramas, Asian movies, battle royale, Blackpink, BTS, Gi-hun, Gong Yoo, Ho Yeon, hometown cha-cha, Indian squid game, japan, Japanese drama, Japanese shows, Jennie, Kento Yamazaki, Kim Seon Ho, Korea, Korean Drama, lacmas, Lee Jung-Jae, Liar Game, Netflix, running man, Shang-Chi, Squid game season 2, squid game season2, survival shows
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