
In a shocking revelation, video footage obtained by the South and North Development Institute (Sand), an organization working with North Korean defectors, exposes the North Korean authorities’ appalling act of publicly sentencing two teenagers to 12 years of hard labor. Their alleged crime? Watching South Korean videos.
The harrowing footage, which has yet to be independently verified by Reuters, depicts two 16-year-olds in Pyongyang, clad in grey scrubs and handcuffed, facing a large public trial. Approximately 1,000 students, all donning face masks, bear witness to the unfolding tragedy in what appears to be an amphitheater. The video suggests that this event took place during the Covid pandemic.
The students, as per the video, were convicted of watching and spreading South Korean movies, music, and music videos over a three-month period. The narrator chillingly states, “They were seduced by foreign culture…and ended up ruining their lives.” The video cuts away to scenes of young girls being handcuffed and Pyongyang women wearing South Korean fashion and hairstyles, illustrating the regime’s severe crackdown on any influence from the outside world.
North Korea, under the leadership of Kim Jong-un, has long imposed draconian sentences on individuals caught enjoying South Korean entertainment or adopting South Korean cultural traits. This intensified crackdown is a result of the sweeping “anti-reactionary thought” law imposed in 2020.
Dr. Choi Kyong-hui, President of Sand and a political science doctor at Tokyo University who defected from North Korea in 2001, warns that the severity of the punishment suggests an attempt to showcase it across North Korea as a warning. This implies that South Korean culture might be more prevalent in North Korean society than the regime desires.
The international community is urged to take immediate action to condemn this gross violation of human rights. The urgency of the situation demands a unified effort to ensure justice for these innocent teenagers and to expose the brutality of the North Korean regime.
CALL TO ACTION:
- Share this news to raise global awareness.
- Contact your government representatives, urging them to condemn this human rights violation.
- Support organizations advocating for human rights in North Korea.
Time is of the essence. The world must stand united against such atrocities.
source: BBC
About Post Author
Views: 1