In North Korea, watching South Korean dramas or listening to K-pop is not just “entertainment” — severe punishments may be imposed for it. According to Amnesty International, citing witness testimonies, there have been recorded cases in which even school students were sent to labor camps, subjected to public humiliation, and in some instances the punishment went as far as execution.
Reports say that watching popular dramas such as “Descendants of the Sun” and “Squid Game,” or listening to K-pop songs, may be treated as a “crime.” The harshest part is that punishment is often said to depend on money and connections: those who have the means may get off more lightly through bribery, while those with limited means face tougher consequences.
Amnesty International representative Sarah Brooks called this “repression mixed with corruption,” saying that restrictions on access to information and the practice of punishment first and foremost derail the lives of those who have no money.
Witnesses say that in recent years, new content produced in South Korea has been entering North Korea faster than before, which has also intensified the situation. Some defectors reported grim information about high school students in Yanggang province who watched “Squid Game.”
Amnesty noted that in 2025 it conducted interviews with 25 people who fled North Korea, and that most of the participants left the country in 2019–2020. It is said that after borders were closed due to COVID-19, escape cases decreased sharply.
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