Watching Squid Game and listening to K-pop in North Korea could cost your life, Amnesty report reveals shocking details

North Korea Executes Citizens For Watching Squid Game And Listening To K-pop, Amnesty report says

• North Koreans face harsh punishments for consuming South Korean media
• Poor face execution; wealthy bribe officials to escape harsh penalties.
• Strict laws criminalize foreign media access, fueling fear and corruption.

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Amnesty International has revealed that North Koreans are being subjected to severe punishments, including public executions, forced labour, and public humiliation, for consuming South Korean media such as dramas, K-pop, and films. Even school children are reportedly forced to watch executions as part of “ideological education.”

According to testimonies collected from 25 escapees in 2025, the punishments vary depending on wealth and social status. Poorer citizens face the harshest consequences, while those from influential families sometimes avoid execution by bribing officials.

“These testimonies show how North Korea is enforcing dystopian laws that mean watching a South Korean TV show can cost you your life – unless you can afford to pay,” said Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director.

“The authorities criminalize access to information in violation of international law, then allow officials to profit off those fearing punishment. This is repression layered with corruption, and it most devastates those without wealth or connections.”

The 2020 Anti-Reactionary Thought and Culture Act labels South Korean content as “rotten ideology that paralyzes the people’s revolutionary sense” and mandates five to 15 years of forced labour for watching or possessing foreign media. Distributing large amounts of such content or organizing group viewings can lead to the death penalty.

Despite the strict laws, North Koreans continue to access South Korean dramas, films, and K-pop through smuggled USB drives and “notetels,” with media from China entering the country faster than before. Popular content includes shows like Crash Landing on You, Descendants of the Sun, and Squid Game, as well as music from BTS.

Amnesty’s findings depict a society living in constant fear of arbitrary detention and raids, where even minor exposure to foreign culture is criminalized. “This government’s fear of information has effectively placed the entire population in an ideological cage, suffocating their access to the views and thoughts of other human beings. People who strive to learn more about the world outside North Korea, or seek simple entertainment from overseas, face the harshest of punishments,” Brooks added.

The testimonies underscore the extreme repression and corruption in North Korea, showing how access to foreign media is treated as a criminal act that can carry the ultimate price.