Report: North Korea Exècutes Schoolchildren for Watching Squid Game, K-Pop

A new report from Amnesty International claims North Korea is carrying out public executions, including of schoolchildren, for watching foreign television shows like Squid Game and listening to South Korean K-pop.

The human rights organisation based its findings on interviews with 25 individuals who escaped from North Korea. Their testimonies reveal that consuming or distributing South Korean media is treated as a severe criminal offence under the regime of Kim Jong-un.

The escapees reported that watching series like Squid Game or sharing such content has resulted in public executions in several provinces. Some interviewees stated that students were among those killed, while others were sentenced to years in labour or re-education camps.

The report also suggests a two-tier system of punishment, where poorer citizens face the harshest penalties, while wealthier families can allegedly bribe officials to avoid prosecution.

These extreme measures are reportedly enforced under North Korea’s 2020 Anti-Reactionary Thought and Culture Act, which brands South Korean media as “rotten ideology.” The law prescribes up to 15 years of forced labour for viewers and potential death sentences for distributors.