Kim Jong Un Allegedly Executes Schoolchildren for Watching Squid Game

Individuals caught engaging with South Korean entertainment in North Korea face drastic punishments, including public executions, as revealed by new findings from Amnesty International.

The report from Amnesty details actions taken by North Korean officials against citizens for viewing popular South Korean shows like Squid Game, listening to K-pop artists such as BTS, or accessing any foreign media labeled as 'reactionary'. Shockingly, even minors are reportedly subjected to severe repercussions.

Reports from defectors indicate that schoolchildren are occasionally forced to witness executions as a deterrent against engaging with prohibited content. While those from affluent backgrounds or with political ties may manage to evade the harshest penalties through bribery, it is the poorer populations who suffer the most severe repercussions.

Sarah Brooks, the Deputy Regional Director of Amnesty International, characterized the situation as notably oppressive, stating, “Watching a South Korean TV show can cost you your life, unless you can afford to pay.”

She further expressed that this system criminalizes the access to information, enabling corruption to thrive: “The authorities criminalize access to information in violation of international law, then allow officials to profit off those fearing punishment. This is repression layered with corruption, and it most devastates those without wealth or connections.”

Despite the considerable risks, South Korean media continues to find its way into North Korea. Shows like Crash Landing on You, which features elements set in North Korea, are reported to be clandestinely enjoyed by audiences within the country.

Amnesty International has documented interviews indicating that individuals apprehended while watching Squid Game or listening to K-pop have been executed. A particularly tragic case arose in 2021 when a student who smuggled a copy of Squid Game from China was sentenced to death by firing squad.

This incident was corroborated by Radio Free Asia, which reported that the student had been selling copies to classmates. The same report noted that one of the buyers received a life sentence, while others who viewed the series were dispatched to hard labor camps for several years.

Observers point out that the themes presented in Squid Game, including extreme social inequality, debt, and survival amidst harsh conditions, resonate powerfully with individuals living under the Kim Jong Un regime.

This aggressive enforcement falls under North Korea’s “Law on the Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture,” enacted in 2020, which specifically targets foreign literature, films, and music, with a heightened emphasis on material originating from South Korea.

Amnesty International warns that this law has transformed the nation into what they term an “ideological cage,” where access to external information is treated as a capital offense rather than a fundamental human right.