North Korea executing residents for watching South Korean TV shows and listening to K-Pop, according to Amnesty International

North Korea is executing people in public for watching South Korean TV shows and listening to K-Pop, according to a leading international human rights organisation.People who have fled North Korea between 2012 and 2020 have detailed the punishments under the ban on foreign media during a series of in-depth interviews with Amnesty International.

South Korean television shows, including the Netflix hit Squid Game, have surged in popularity around the world in recent years.

This image released by Netflix shows a scene from the popular Korean series Squid Game. (Netflix via AP)

The escapees have described an arbitrary and corrupt system where secret consumption of South Korean TV is widespread but the penalties for violating the vaguely-worded culture laws are determined largely by wealth and connections.

Amnesty International said the introduction of the 2020 Anti-Reactionary Thought and Culture Act enables these severe punishments to persist. 

The law defines South Korean content as “rotten ideology that paralyses the people’s revolutionary sense”.

BTS is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

The new law mandates between five and 15 years of forced labour for watching or possessing South Korean dramas, films or music.

It also prescribes heavy sentences including the death penalty for the distribution of large amounts of content or for organising group viewings.

Interviewees described a society in which dramas and films are commonly smuggled in on USB drives from China, which young North Koreans watch on notebook computers with built-in televisions.

However, privilege plays a role in the application of the law.

Interviewees said people commonly watched South Korean TV knowing that they risked extreme punishment, but also that it was possible to escape the worst penalties if you were able to pay.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (AP)

Kim Joonsik*, 28, said he was caught watching South Korean dramas three times before he left the country in 2019.

However, he avoided punishment because his family had connections to officials.

“Usually when high school students are caught, if their family has money, they just get warnings,” he told Amnesty International.

“I didn’t receive legal punishment because we had connections.”

Amnesty International said North Korea’s government has reportedly deployed a specialised law enforcement unit known as 109 Group to crack down on foreign media consumption for decades.

The organisation said the unit conducts warrantless home and street searches of bags and mobile phones.

Interviewees said workers watch it openly, party officials watch it proudly, security agents watch it secretly and police watch it safely.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects an honor guard during the military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Worker’s Party in Pyongyang, North Korea on Friday, October 10 in 2025. (AP)

Interviewees described how North Korea uses public executions to terrorise entire communities into compliance. 

Choi Suvin* witnessed a public execution in Sinuiju in the North Pyongan Province “in 2017 or 2018” of someone accused of distributing foreign media.

“Authorities told everyone to go, and tens of thousands of people from Sinuiju city gathered to watch,” she said. 

“They execute people to brainwash and educate us.”

Some interviewees described schools systematically forcing students to attend public executions as part of “ideological education”. 

In one case, a squad of 10 people fired about 30 rounds at the condemned person. 

Amnesty International was also told in some cases a substance is placed in victims’ mouths to prevent them from speaking before execution. 

“When we were 16, 17, in middle school, they took us to executions and showed us everything,” said Kim Eunju*, 40, who fled in 2019. 

“People were executed for watching or distributing South Korean media.

“It’s ideological education: if you watch, this happens to you too.”

Amnesty International’s deputy regional director Sarah Brooks called on the law to be abolished.

“People who strive to learn more about the world outside North Korea, or seek simple entertainment from overseas, face the harshest of punishments,” Sarah Brooks said.

“This completely arbitrary system, built on fear and corruption, violates fundamental principles of justice and internationally recognised human rights. 

“It must be dismantled so that North Koreans can dare to enjoy the freedoms to which they are entitled.”

*All names are pseudonyms

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