North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been accused of authorising extreme punishments, including executions, for citizens caught consuming South Korean entertainment such as the hit series Squid Game, according to a new report by Amnesty International.
The human rights group’s findings allege that North Korean authorities have carried out executions against individuals found watching South Korean dramas, listening to K-pop artists like BTS, or accessing foreign media labelled as “reactionary.” Alarmingly, the report claims that even children have not been spared from these harsh penalties.
Based on testimonies from defectors, Amnesty says schoolchildren are sometimes forced to witness executions as a deterrent against engaging with banned content. While families with wealth or political influence may reportedly bribe officials to escape severe punishment, poorer citizens are said to bear the brunt of the regime’s crackdown.
Commenting on the findings, Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director, described the situation as brutally repressive, noting that watching a South Korean television programme can be a death sentence for those unable to pay their way out.
She added that the system not only criminalises access to information in violation of international law but also fuels corruption, allowing officials to profit from fear while ordinary citizens suffer the consequences.
Despite the dangers, South Korean media is said to continue circulating secretly within the country. Popular dramas such as Crash Landing on You, which partly depicts life in North Korea, are reportedly watched in private by many citizens.
Amnesty cited interviews claiming that individuals caught watching Squid Game or listening to K-pop had been executed. One widely reported case from 2021 involved a student who allegedly smuggled Squid Game into North Korea from China and was sentenced to death by firing squad.
That incident was also reported by Radio Free Asia, which stated that the student had sold copies of the series to classmates. According to the report, one buyer received a life sentence, while others were sent to forced labour camps for several years.
Analysts suggest that the themes of Squid Game—such as inequality, debt, and survival under harsh rules—strongly resonate with people living under Kim Jong Un’s rule.
The ongoing crackdown is enforced under North Korea’s “Law on the Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture,” introduced in 2020, which targets foreign books, films, and music, particularly content from South Korea.
Amnesty warns that the law has effectively turned the country into what it describes as an “ideological cage,” where access to outside information is treated as a capital offence rather than a basic human right.