London — North Korea has executed several teenagers for the crime of watching South Korean television dramas, according to a report released by Amnesty International, underscoring the regime's escalating war against foreign cultural influence.
The executions, carried out in recent months, represent a dramatic intensification of Pyongyang's campaign against what it terms "reactionary ideology and culture." The victims, some as young as 16, were reportedly caught watching pirated copies of popular South Korean shows, including the globally successful series "Squid Game."
To understand today's headlines, we must look at yesterday's decisions. North Korea has always maintained strict controls over information and cultural consumption, viewing external influence as an existential threat to the regime's ideological monopoly. But the current crackdown represents an unprecedented escalation, suggesting Pyongyang perceives South Korean popular culture as a genuine danger to its grip on power.
"This is state-sponsored terror designed to instill fear in the entire population," said Arnold Fang, Amnesty International's researcher on North Korea. "The regime understands that exposure to outside culture, particularly from South Korea, undermines the narrative that North Korea is a workers' paradise and the Kim family are infallible leaders."
The report is based on testimony from recent defectors who witnessed public executions and heard credible accounts from others who had escaped. According to these sources, the teenagers were accused of violating the "Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act," a law enacted in 2020 that carries penalties up to and including death for consuming, possessing, or distributing South Korean media.
The law was a response to the growing infiltration of South Korean culture—particularly K-pop music and television dramas—into North Korea via smuggled USB drives and SD cards. Despite severe penalties and extensive surveillance, the appetite for South Korean content has only grown, especially among younger North Koreans who have less direct memory of the state's founding mythology.
"Korean Wave content shows them a version of Korea that is prosperous, free, and modern," explained Sokeel Park, director of research at Liberty in North Korea, an organization that assists defectors. "For many young people, it's a revelation that contradicts everything they've been taught. That's why the regime sees it as so dangerous."
The executions were reportedly carried out publicly, a deliberate choice designed to maximize their deterrent effect. Witnesses described teenagers being shot by firing squad in front of assembled crowds, including schoolchildren brought to watch as a "lesson." Family members of the executed were reportedly sent to political prison camps, following North Korea's policy of "guilt by association" that extends punishment to three generations.
The crackdown on foreign culture coincides with North Korea's deepening isolation following the COVID-19 pandemic. The regime sealed its borders in early 2020 and has only partially reopened them, severely restricting the flow of information and goods. This isolation has intensified internal repression, with authorities conducting house-to-house searches for contraband media and using informant networks to identify violators.
International human rights organizations have documented the systematic use of execution as a tool of social control in North Korea. The United Nations Commission of Inquiry found in 2014 that the regime commits crimes against humanity, including murder, enslavement, and persecution. But the UN Security Council has been unable to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court due to vetoes by China and Russia.
"The international community has utterly failed to hold North Korea accountable," said Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division. "These teenagers were murdered by their own government for the 'crime' of curiosity, and there will be no consequences."
The executions also highlight the generational tensions within North Korea. Kim Jong Un, who assumed power in 2011, has oscillated between limited economic reforms and fierce ideological repression. The crackdown on foreign culture suggests that internal pressures—particularly from younger generations exposed to outside information—are seen as threatening to regime stability.
Defectors report that despite the risks, consumption of South Korean media continues, driven underground by repression. Smuggling networks operate along the Chinese border, and content is passed hand-to-hand, often with elaborate precautions to avoid detection.
"You can execute people for watching TV shows, but you can't stop them from wanting to watch," said a recent defector speaking anonymously for security reasons. "The more they crack down, the more we realize the regime is afraid. And if they're afraid of a TV show, maybe they're not as powerful as they claim."
For the families of the executed teenagers, there is no recourse and no justice. In North Korea's totalitarian system, questioning the state's decisions is itself a political crime. The executions will be recorded, if at all, as the righteous punishment of those who betrayed the revolution—a narrative designed to justify state violence and deter future "offenders."
As South Korean culture continues its global ascent, winning fans from Seoul to São Paulo, the tragic irony is that those closest to its source—just across the 38th parallel—face death for experiencing what billions around the world consume freely.
