A North Pyongan Province man was recently arrested for watching South Korean dramas, Daily NK has learned.
According to a source in North Pyongan Province on July 18, the man, who is in his 30s and surnamed Kim, was watching South Korean dramas through a USB drive plugged into his Notetel when he was arrested by the authorities in Kusong earlier this month.
At the time of his arrest, Kim was viewing a South Korean drama called “Strong Girl Bong-soon” by himself at home.
Before COVID-19, groups of close friends would often gather together to watch South Korean dramas or movies. However, stricter regulations and harsher punishments put in place after the start of the pandemic have forced many people to watch the dramas by themselves. Often, this has meant that people exchange portable storage devices like USBs and SD cards that contain South Korean media content.
Kim was taking his turn with a USB stick that contained South Korean dramas when he was discovered by the authorities, the source said.
“It has been over ten days since Kim was arrested, but none of his friends have been summoned yet. Normally, friends promise each other to never betray any one else if they’re caught by the authorities, so Kim is probably sticking to a similar promise that he made with his friends,” the source said.
However, given that the authorities are using all methods at their disposal to identify the source of the USB and eliminate all collaborators, Kim’s friends will likely be arrested soon.
“We’ll have to wait and see whether Kim can keep silent about the source of the USB and the name of his friends and take sole blame for everything,” the source said.
Arrested man unlikely to escape punishment due to past history
Meanwhile, Kim’s family is desperately searching for a way to save his life. However, the strong determination by the authorities to punish consumers of South Korean visual content means that it is unlikely he will escape severe punishment.
Kim enjoyed watching South Korean movies and dramas from childhood, and was even subjected to a public struggle session while attending middle school as a result. This past history will likely make things even tougher for him, the source said.
North Korea regards the consumption and distribution of South Korean movies and dramas worthy of severe criminal punishment.
Daily NK recently acquired a copy of the “Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act.” Article 27, entitled Crime of Distributing Puppet (South Korean) Ideology and Culture, stipulates that “any person who views, listens to, or possesses South Korean movies, video recordings, compilations, books, songs, drawings, or photographs, or who brings in and distributes South Korean songs, drawings, photographs, or designs shall be sentenced to five to 10 years of reform through labor. If the severity of the crime is deemed high, the offender shall be sentenced to reform through labor for 10 years or more.”
Translated by Annie Eun Jung Kim. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of sources who live inside North Korea, China and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
