“They were seduced by foreign culture…And ended up wasting their lives.” This is one of the sentences spoken by the voice-over which comments on the images of the trial of two North Korean teenagers. In what appears to be a stadium and in front of a hundred other young people, the two high school students, handcuffed, were sentenced to 12 years of forced labor for watching and sharing South Korean films, clips and shows. Which is strictly prohibited in North Korea. The video of their trial would have been filmed in 2022, estimates the think tank and institute of North Korean defectors Sand, which recovered and distributed the images, as reported by the BBC.
“Issuing a heavy sentence on the high school students shows that the North Korean authorities are trying to present this case to all North Korean residents in the country as an alarm and a warning. It also shows that South Korean culture and lifestyle are very prevalent in North Korean society,” says Choi Kyong-hui, president of Sand, who fled North Korea in 2001. “Millennials and North Korea’s Generation Z are Kim Jong-Un’s biggest headache, as the mentality of North Korea’s younger generation has changed. “That’s why North Korea is doing this, that is, they want the younger generations to adopt the North Korean style again,” she continues.
A law adopted in 2020 by the Pyongyang regime against “reactionary thinking” prohibits the consumption of videos, music or media from South Korea. Those who deviate from it risk the death penalty.
The broadcast of this video comes at a time of very high tensions between the two Koreas. Since January, North Korea has increased its provocations against its neighbor. Kim Jong-un declared South Korea his “main enemy” and threatened war over any territorial violations. Less than a month ago, North Korea conducted artillery drills just a few kilometers from the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong.
2024-01-19 20:26:05
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