Three high school kids from North Korea were executed for watching and widely disseminating South Korean dramas among their acquaintances, which was against the nation’s legal criteria for severe punishment of minors. As three youths were publicly shot by North Korean officials, terrified locals expressed their profound astonishment.
According to witnesses interviewed by Radio Free Asia (RFA) on December 2, the third teen was charged with killing his stepmother. The shocked citizens of Hyesen city, which is close to the Chinese border, were made to see the shooting by the ultra-communist pariah state’s leaders after they stated that the crimes committed by youths between the ages of 16 and 17 were “equally evil.”
“They said, ‘Those who watch or distribute South Korean movies and dramas, and those who disrupt social order by murdering other people, will not be forgiven and will be sentenced to the maximum penalty–death,’” said a resident. The execution took place in the city’s airfield in October.
“Hyesan residents gathered in groups at the runway,” she said. “The authorities put the teen-aged students in front of the public, sentenced them to death, and immediately shot them.”
Brutal public executions are not uncommon in North Korea
In North Korea, brutal public executions are commonplace, and the government frequently employs them to scare citizens into abstaining from illegal action. The killings took place approximately a week after the authorities declared that the state will impose severe penalties for offenses involving foreign media, particularly South Korean media.
According to observers, North Korean authorities are concerned about the recent influx of South Korean and Western movies, music, and TV shows.
According to reports, SD cards and USB flash drives are used to sneak the media into North Korea from China and distribute it there. This has caused North Korea to feel anxious about the influx of South Korean culture, whose “decadent and anti-revolutionary” components are the potential of upsetting the youth of the country.
Authorities arbitrarily seized smartphones and punished violators harshly
According to a source who spoke to RFA, anyone caught watching a foreign film is first taken to a work camp. The offender and their parents must spend five years in a penal work camp as punishment for the repeated offense. For failing to adequately educate their children, the parents are penalized. The same offense for the third time justifies the death penalty even if the offender is a minor.
The students were caught in a trap this time,” said the resident from Hyesen city.
A resident of the nearby North Hamgyong province claimed that panic has spread due to the gruesome executions.
“Despite intensive control and crackdowns to eradicate reactionary thought and culture, young people are still caught secretly watching South Korean movies. … So now the authorities are embarking on a reign of terror through public execution,” she said.
She stated that law enforcement agencies have mandated that people suspected of owning or disseminating immoral recordings and publications be given prompt justice.