North Korean teenagers sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for watching movies

In North Korea, two teenagers were publicly sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for watching South Korean movies. The BBC reports on this and publishes footage of the children’s trial.

The released photos, likely taken in 2022, show the two men in handcuffs in front of hundreds of students in an outdoor stadium. Uniformed officers blamed them for “poorly reflecting on their mistakes.”

The publication states that South Korean entertainment, including television, is banned in the DPRK.

Such footage is rare because North Korea prohibits the release of photographs, videos and other evidence of life in the country.

This video was provided to the BBC by South and North Development (Sand), a research institute that works with North Korean defectors.

The teenagers’ beliefs suggest that the authorities are taking a tougher approach in such cases. The clip was reportedly distributed in North Korea for ideological education and to warn citizens not to watch entertainment from South Korea.

The video features an announcer repeating government propaganda.

“The culture of the rotten puppet regime has spread to teenagers. They are only 16 years old, but they have already destroyed their future,” said the voice in the video.

According to the publication, former minors who break the law in this way are sent to youth labor camps instead of behind bars, and the punishment is usually less than five years. However, in 2020, Pyongyang passed a law making the revision or distribution of South Korean entertainment punishable by death.

Let’s remember that this week Kim Jong-un announced the need to occupy South Korea in case of war.

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