JAKARTA - The news that two North Korean teenagers were shot dead for distributing files containing Korean dramas shocked netizens. The communist country led by Kim Jong Un has indeed strictly banned the entry of various foreign media materials, especially those deemed 'Western', because it is considered to be washing the brains of its residents.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un views South Korea as a puppet American country, and is sensitive to any media crossing the border from the country.
Despite being strictly controlled, South Korean dramas and films are often smuggled into the country via USB drives or memory cards brought across borders from China and then chartered among North Koreans. The ruling Pyongyang regime uses informants recruited from the general public to arrest those selling the drive.
In the case of the two teenagers, one of these spies reported them for selling the drive containing these programs in the local market.
Quoted from the Daily Mail, such executions are rare in North Korea, but are never heard of, and are usually used to scare people into obeying when authorities worry about breaking the rules.
North Korean youths caught watching foreign films will be sent to disciplinary work centers, said a source at Hyesan.
The second breach means being sent to a five-year prison camp with their parents, as punishment for failing to discipline their children.
But anyone caught distributing or selling South Korean films could face the death penalty, even if they were minors, the source added.
The executions came about a week after authorities held a public meeting to tell them they would be tough on crimes involving foreign media, especially from South Korea that are more prosperous and democratic, citing RFA.
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