North Korea executed man in 2022 for watching, sharing South Korean films & music: Report

Seoul

North Korea publicly executed a 22-year-old man in 2022 for watching and sharing South Korean films and music, The Guardian reported on Friday (June 28) citing South Korea's unification ministry. 

The Guardian report said that the man, a resident of the South Hwanghae province, was executed for listening to 70 South Korean songs, watching three films, and distributing them, falling foul of a North Korean law that bans “reactionary ideology and culture.” This law was adopted by Pyongyang in 2020. 

A threat to North Korea's ideology

According to the unification ministry, the ban on K-pop (Korean Popular Music) is part of a campaign to shield North Koreans from the “malign” influence of Western culture. 

Also read | North Korea building roads and walls inside Demilitarised Zone. Seoul reacts

Citing experts, The Guardian reported that allowing South Korean popular culture to seep into North Korean society could pose a threat to the ideology that demands loyalty to the Kim dynasty.

Influence of South Korean culture over North Korea

But despite such harsh measures, the influence of South Korean culture appears unstoppable, a recent North Korean defector told reporters.

The defector, a woman in her 20s said that the speed of South Korean culture influencing Pyongyang was seriously fast. "Young people follow and copy South Korean culture, and they really love anything South Korean," she added. 

"After watching Korean dramas, many young people wonder, ‘Why do we have to live like this? thought I’d rather die than live in North Korea,” she further said. 

(With inputs from agencies)