A public ideological struggle session was recently held at the Yomju Duck Farm in Yomju county, North Pyongan province, targeting a young worker who was caught watching a South Korean film.
A source in the province told Daily NK recently that at the end of last month, all factory staff and workers’ families were assembled for a public ideological struggle session titled “On Waging an Unyielding Struggle against Ideological Laxity and Anti-Socialist Phenomena among Workers.”
The session was held to denounce a young factory worker who had been caught watching South Korean media content.
According to the source, the worker is a 19-year-old male who had originally been scheduled for military conscription this year. However, he was ruled unfit for service after injuring his finger just before enlistment and had since been undergoing technical training as a duck handler at the Yomju Duck Farm.
The incident occurred in mid-June when the worker was on night duty at the duck shed. He was caught by a county Ministry of Social Security officer while secretly watching South Korean footage on a notetel (a portable media player).
The video featured North Korean defectors who had successfully resettled in South Korea, showing them receiving housing and education support from the South Korean government and living well—content considered especially sensitive and subversive by North Korean authorities.
Investigation and public denunciation
The Ministry of Social Security immediately detained the youth and launched an investigation into how he had obtained the video and whether he had shared it with others.
During the investigation, another youth who had been close to the main subject came forward, admitting he had also watched the video. Authorities detained him as well, but released him after eight days with a “re-education measure,” reportedly due to a cognitive disability.
The public ideological struggle session was held at the factory at the end of the month. The 19-year-old was brought onto the stage, where he faced harsh ideological criticism from factory managers, fellow workers, and family representatives.
Some workers claimed, “He deliberately broke his finger to dodge military service because of his poor ideological mindset,” and warned, “If we leave someone like him alone, the entire factory will become ideologically disarmed.”
Throughout the proceedings, the young man kept his head down and appeared on the verge of tears. While many hurled sharp criticism, some people expressed discomfort, saying that at nineteen, he was still immature and that the treatment felt excessively harsh.
The source said the session maintained a grave and solemn atmosphere from start to finish, instilling “sharp vigilance” among the workers. After the meeting, some voiced fear, saying, “We need to be careful even about watching notetel at home.”
Translated by Kyungmin Kim.
