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North Korea has carried out public executions of schoolchildren and teenagers for watching South Korean television shows and listening to K-pop music, including the global Netflix hit Squid Game, according to a new report by Amnesty International released on February 7, 2026.
The human rights organization documented cases where minors faced death, long-term forced labor, or brutal public humiliation for consuming foreign media banned under the regime’s strict ideological controls.
The findings are based on 25 in-depth interviews conducted in 2025 with North Korean defectors who fled the country between 2012 and 2020. Amnesty’s report highlights the regime’s intensified crackdown under leader Kim Jong Un, enforced through the 2020 Anti-Reactionary Thought and Culture Act. The law brands South Korean dramas, films, and music as “rotten ideology that paralyses the people’s revolutionary sense.”
Key Details from Defector Testimonies
The report provides a grim look at how the regime enforces ideological purity:
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The “Price” of Life: Punishment severity often depends on wealth. Poorer families face the harshest penalties, while those with money can reportedly pay bribes ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 to avoid labor camps or execution.
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Public Execution as “Education”: Several escapees recalled being forced, as children, to attend public executions. One defector noted: “When we were 16, 17… they took us to executions and showed us everything… It’s ideological education: if you watch, this happens to you too.”
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Surveillance Units: A specialized police unit known as the “109 Group” conducts warrantless home raids and street searches for foreign media, often targeting smuggled USB drives from China.
“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.” — Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International Deputy Regional Director.
A Pattern of Escalating Repression
The 2020 law has significantly escalated repression, with foreign media labeled a direct threat to state stability. Despite the risks, defectors suggest that consumption remains widespread across all social strata. “Everyone knows everyone watches, including those who do the crackdowns,” one interviewee noted.
Amnesty’s report aligns with previous documentation from the UN and South Korean officials. In early 2024, verified footage surfaced showing North Korean teenagers sentenced to hard labor for watching South Korean dramas. The international community continues to call on Pyongyang to protect basic freedoms of expression and end capital punishment for media consumption.
