Facebook
Twitter
Meetup
Advertisements, links with an http address and inappropriate language will be deleted.
2017.06.28
| Won | Pyongyang | Sinuiju | Hyesan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exchange Rate | 8,070 | 8,050 | 8,095 |
| Rice Price | 5,800 | 6,000 | 5,900 |
Provincial residents have been warned that the viewing, sale or distribution of illegal foreign films or images will result in severe punishment for those responsible, inside sources have revealed to Daily NK. Viewers of illegal materials will be sent into internal exile; in addition, severe transgressors are to be threatened with labor reeducation.
There is the suspicion that the measure has been taken at this particular time in order to clamp down on rumors related to pornographic films produced by leading North Korean entertainers.
A source from North Hamkyung Province told Daily NK on the 22nd, “An instruction has been posted saying that the selling or watching of footage that fosters anti-socialist phenomena will not simply lead to internal exile. Depending on the nature of the content, it could also result in reeducation-through-labor sentences.”
“The ‘109 Inspection Team’ [also known as ‘109 Gruppa’], which is responsible for implementing this kind of decree, has been started up and sent out again. Some people have already been questioned,” the source further revealed.
According to the source, the official instruction says that all recorded materials will be audited, and if they are found to contain illegal content then strict punishments will be applied. Specifically, it notes, “If South Korean movies or dramas are discovered, a sentence of reeducation through labor will be applied.”
However, in modern North Korea where corruption is endemic, only those without the resources to pay off 109 Inspection Team agents will find themselves feeling the full weight of the warning. In large part, it will act as an invitation for members of the inspection group to enrich themselves.
Meanwhile, it is suspected that although the warning nominally covers all imported recorded materials, the instruction is primarily intended to clamp down on discussion of the “pornography scandal” that has recently engulfed North Korean society.
“Word has it that this is being done now because the Unhasu Orchestra produced that illegal content,” the source said. “It looks like the authorities are using illegal film production by entertainers to try and stop normal people from viewing illegal [foreign] materials.”
However, the rumor that those entertainers who took part the production of a pornographic film have been executed does not show any sign of disappearing, the source added.
There is the suspicion that the measure has been taken at this particular time in order to clamp down on rumors related to pornographic films produced by leading North Korean entertainers.
A source from North Hamkyung Province told Daily NK on the 22nd, “An instruction has been posted saying that the selling or watching of footage that fosters anti-socialist phenomena will not simply lead to internal exile. Depending on the nature of the content, it could also result in reeducation-through-labor sentences.”
“The ‘109 Inspection Team’ [also known as ‘109 Gruppa’], which is responsible for implementing this kind of decree, has been started up and sent out again. Some people have already been questioned,” the source further revealed.
According to the source, the official instruction says that all recorded materials will be audited, and if they are found to contain illegal content then strict punishments will be applied. Specifically, it notes, “If South Korean movies or dramas are discovered, a sentence of reeducation through labor will be applied.”
However, in modern North Korea where corruption is endemic, only those without the resources to pay off 109 Inspection Team agents will find themselves feeling the full weight of the warning. In large part, it will act as an invitation for members of the inspection group to enrich themselves.
Meanwhile, it is suspected that although the warning nominally covers all imported recorded materials, the instruction is primarily intended to clamp down on discussion of the “pornography scandal” that has recently engulfed North Korean society.
“Word has it that this is being done now because the Unhasu Orchestra produced that illegal content,” the source said. “It looks like the authorities are using illegal film production by entertainers to try and stop normal people from viewing illegal [foreign] materials.”
However, the rumor that those entertainers who took part the production of a pornographic film have been executed does not show any sign of disappearing, the source added.
