Authorities in North Korea are showing propaganda videos meant to scare people off watching media from rival South Korea, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia.
The videos show footage of people getting sentenced to long stints in prison or in labor camps to atone for the “anti-socialist” crime of watching South Korean TV shows, which are routinely smuggled into the country through China via easily concealable SD cards or USB flash drives.
The videos, titled “Let’s eliminate anti-socialist and non-socialist phenomena” were shown to the public during the mandatory lectures that they must attend every week, a resident from the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“This is a warning to eradicate the South Korean culture that is prevalent these days,” he said. “Recently, the authorities have defined the act of watching impure recordings as an anti-socialist and anti-establishment crime and are cracking down more strictly.”
The resident said that even despite the warnings, interest in media from South Korea and other countries is very high.
The video characterized the problem, with a voiceover saying, “The act of watching and distributing impure recordings is not only occurring in North and South Pyongan Provinces, but in almost all regions as well. These criminal acts are a very serious problem…”
Unintended effects
The video is intended to discourage people from watching South Korean media. Instead, the lack of freedom to watch media from outside North Korea is causing people to question the nature of the society they live in, the resident said.
“Even though the authorities boast that our socialism is the best in the world, the reality of socialism can be seen by the fact that they cover the eyes and ears of the residents,” he said. “If our country is an ideal society like in the propaganda material, why do they desperately try to block the eyes and ears of the people?”
The propaganda videos show North Koreans of all ages, including minors, being sent to prison for life for watching South Korean movies, a resident from the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.
“Residents had a cold reaction to the authorities imposing life-long correctional labor sentences for watching South Korean movies,” she said. “In the recording, numerous students, teenagers, and residents were sentenced to life imprisonment. The anger of their parents, siblings, and families must be very high.”
Translated by Claire S. Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Edited by Eugene Whong.