North Korea executed a 22-year-old man for listening to and sharing K-pop music and films as part of the regime’s harsh crackdown on foreign information and culture.
The execution took place in South Hwanghae province in 2022 after the man was found guilty of listening to 70 South Korean songs, watching three films, and distributing them, according to testimonies in the North Korean Human Rights report released by South Korea's Unification Ministry on June 27.
The report, based on testimonies from 649 North Korean defectors, highlights the regime's severe measures against Western influence and the flow of external information into the isolated country.
North Korea's ban on K-pop began under former leader Kim Jong-il to protect citizens from Western cultural influences and was intensified by his son, Kim Jong-un, who introduced a law in 2020 prohibiting “reactionary ideology and culture.”
The North Korean government has dismissed criticisms of human rights abuses, labeling them as conspiracies aimed at toppling the leadership.
The report indicates that North Koreans are frequently subjected to mobile phone inspections for signs of foreign influence, such as contact name spellings, expressions, and slang terms.
Human Rights Watch's 2023 world report states, "The government does not tolerate pluralism, bans independent media, civil society organizations and trade unions, and systematically denies all basic liberties, including freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association, and freedom of religion and belief."
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