North Korea conducted simultaneous closed trials in Pyongyang and North Hwanghae Province in mid-July, following orders from the Central Anti-Socialist and Non-Socialist (ASNS) Joint Command.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Daily NK source in Pyongyang reported Monday that “North Korean authorities held closed trials for violations of the DPRK Law of Rejecting Reactionary Thought and Culture simultaneously in Pyongyang and Singe County, North Hwanghae Province on July 13. The courts sentenced each defendant to death.”
According to the source, the courts tried one individual working for the State General Bureau of Tourist Guidance in Pyongyang and another from the Singe County Forestry Management Office, which is in North Hwanghae Province. Authorities accused them of distributing South Korean movies, dramas, and songs.
The courts imposed the maximum legal punishment. Based on reports from neighboring residents and confessions during preliminary examinations, the courts determined that these individuals not only consumed South Korean culture but also engaged in anti-state activities by accepting the ideology of a hostile country.
“The defendants (allegedly) purchased ‘puppet cultural items’ with large sums of money and actively sold them to others,” the source said. “They expressed dissatisfaction, comparing capitalist countries to North Korea, saying ‘The state deceives us and treats us like servants.'”
The defendants also allegedly said that they were “dissatisfied with being born in this country.” Consequently, the courts classified them as reactionaries who abandoned socialist principles.
The Central ASNS Joint Command labeled the defendants as “serious threats to the state” and sentenced them to death. It also ordered the exile of the defendants’ families to “areas isolated from society.”
The source opined that “these trials demonstrate North Korea’s harsh and severe response to violations of the DPRK Law of Rejecting Reactionary Thought and Culture. This clearly shows the government’s resolve to strengthen judicial punishment to prevent the spread of reactionary thought and culture.”
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons.
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