Report: NKorea Executed 22-Year-Old For Disseminating K-pop

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Facts

  • According to South Korea's newly released 2024 Report on North Korean Human Rights, Pyongyang has publicly executed a 22-year-old man for consuming and sharing 70 K-pop songs and three South Korean films.1
  • This comes as one of the 649 North Korean defectors who testified for the report recounted witnessing the execution of a young man from South Hwanghae province in 2022.2
  • Under the 2020 Law on Rejecting Reactionary Ideology and Culture, North Korea has banned access, possession, and distribution of external information from countries deemed hostile.3
  • Sentences may vary from up to 10 years of hard labor for people convicted of bringing and spreading outside culture and information to execution by a firing squad for those who disseminate South Korean dramas, movies, and songs.4
  • The report published on Thursday further says that people in North Korea are regularly subjected to mobile phone inspections, with Pyongyang responding that these claims are part of a conspiracy to overthrow the government.5
  • Earlier this year, BBC Korean obtained rare footage apparently showing two teenage boys being publicly sentenced in 2022 to 12 years of hard labor for watching and distributing K-dramas.6

Sources: 1New York Post, 2Guardian, 3Korea Herald, 4Koreatimes, 5Independent and 6BBC News.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by CNN. South Korean pop culture threatens the Northern regime's control and ideology. The vibrant fashion, music, and slang represent a stark contrast to a strict, state-controlled culture. Pyongyang fears that exposure to an affluent and free lifestyle could inspire discontent and admiration among its citizens, undermining the regime's authority. With the North in dire economic straits, any foreign influence could erode the regime's legitimacy and ideological grip on its people.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Pop – The Diplomat. There's no evidence that Pyongyang carried out the execution of the young man, as the South claims. What is known for sure is that South Korean pop culture has troublesome issues beneath its glamorous surface. For instance, the K-pop industry is riddled with mistreatment, exploitation, and abuse, including slave-like contracts and sexual harassment. When North Korea fights against the dissemination of such content, it's also taking a stance against all these problems.

Predictions