North Korea is said to be publicly executing children for watching South Korean TV shows and listening to K-pop music.
In new testimonies gathered by the human rights organisation Amnesty International, North Koreans who fled the authoritarian country said that consuming globally popular South Korean media and pop culture can lead to extreme punishments - like being sent to labour camps or being publicly humiliated - and even death.
Defectors described a climate of fear in which South Korean culture is treated as a serious crime, while wealthier families can sometimes avoid punishment by paying bribes to corrupt officials.
Interviewees described being forced, as schoolchildren, to attend public executions as part of their 'ideological education'.
Choi Suvin witnessed a public execution in Sinuiju in 2017 or 2018 of someone accused of distributing foreign media.
'Authorities told everyone to go, and tens of thousands of people from Sinuiju city gathered to watch,' she said. 'They execute people to brainwash and educate us.'
Others described schools systematically ordering students to attend executions.
'When we were 16, 17, in middle school, they took us to executions and showed us everything,' said Kim Eunju, 40.
'People were executed for watching or distributing South Korean media. It's ideological education: if you watch, this happens to you too.'
North Korean defectors also said that newer South Korean content was reaching North Korea faster than in previous decades.
They mentioned popular South Korean dramas from the 2010s, including Crash Landing on You, noted for its North Korea setting, and Descendants of the Sun, which features military themes.
