North Korean authorities sentenced two 16-year-olds to 12 years of hard labor for watching K-pop and South Korean movies, according to video footage released by the South and North Development (SAND) Institute, an organization that works with North Korean defectors, Reuters reports.
The video was reportedly made by North Korean authorities and shows a large public trial where the two students are handcuffed and watched by around 1,000 students in an amphitheater. The students were sentenced after being convicted of watching and spreading South Korean movies, music, and music videos.
North Korea has a history of imposing harsh sentences on those caught enjoying South Korean entertainment, following the implementation of an “anti-reactionary thought” law in 2020.
