North Koreans caught watching South Korean television shows reportedly face punishments ranging from public humiliation to years in labor camps and even execution, with wealth and connections often determining who escapes the harshest penalties.
In a report based on interviews with 25 North Korean escapees conducted in 2025, Amnesty International describes a system in which access to foreign media is widespread but criminalized under vaguely worded “culture” laws. These laws are enforced arbitrarily, reportedly allowing corrupt officials to profit from bribes while the poorest face the most severe consequences.
“These testimonies show how North Korea is enforcing dystopian laws that mean watching a South Korean TV show can cost you your life – unless you can afford to pay,” said Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director. “The authorities criminalize access to information in violation of international law, then allow officials to profit off those fearing punishment. This is repression layered with corruption, and it most devastates those without wealth or connections.”
Most of the interviewees fled North Korea between 2019 and 2020, with the most recent departure in June 2020. Amnesty International said COVID-19 border closures since then have made escapes extremely rare.
Those interviewed were mostly aged 15-25 at the time of their departure.
North Korea has long maintained one of the world’s most restrictive information environments. Escapees told Amnesty International that even before 2020, people were punished for accessing foreign media, sometimes by execution. The 2020 Anti-Reactionary Thought and Culture Act codified those practices, defining South Korean content as “rotten ideology that paralyzes the people’s revolutionary sense.”
Under the law, watching or possessing South Korean dramas, films, or music can result in five to 15 years of forced labor, while distributing “large amounts” of content or organizing group viewings can bring far heavier sentences, including the death penalty.
Despite the risks, interviewees reported that South Korean media are widely consumed. Dramas and films are smuggled into the country on USB drives from China and watched on “notetels,” notebook-style devices with built-in televisions.
Several escapees described how punishment depends less on the offense than on a person’s ability to pay.
“People are caught for the same act, but punishment depends entirely on money,” said Choi Suvin, 39, who left North Korea in 2019. “People without money sell their houses to gather 5,000 or 10,000 USD to pay to get out of the re-education camps.”
Kim Joonsik, 28, said he was caught watching South Korean dramas three times before leaving in 2019, but avoided punishment because his family had connections. “Usually when high school students are caught, if their family has money, they just get warnings,” he said. “I didn’t receive legal punishment because we had connections.”
He said three of his sisters’ high school friends were sent to labor camps for years in the late 2010s for the same behavior because their families could not afford bribes. When Kim’s sister was arrested, the family paid USD 9,000 to secure her release before formal charges.
Amnesty noted that bribes of USD 5,000 to 10,000 represent several years of income for most North Korean families, putting freedom out of reach for all but the wealthiest.
Interviewees across different regions described the role of a specialized enforcement unit known as the “109 Group,” which conducts warrantless searches of homes, bags, and mobile phones. Fifteen interviewees mentioned the group, suggesting a nationwide, systematic approach.
One escapee explained that those arresting and prosecuting others for watching South Korean media were likely consuming the same material media themselves, stating, “Workers watch it openly, party officials watch it proudly, security agents watch it secretly, and police watch it safely. Everyone knows everyone watches, including those who do the crackdowns.”
Officials, interviewees said, often solicit bribes directly. One recalled members of the 109 Group saying, “We don’t want to punish you harshly, but we need to bribe our bosses to save our own lives.”
At times, however, even money offers no protection. Kim Gayoung, 32, who left North Korea in June 2020, said Kim Jong Un ordered “intensive crackdown” campaigns in the late 2010s that reduced the effectiveness of bribes.
“My cousin worked at the People’s Committee,” she said. “He said when someone was caught, no one would help them out. Even with bribes or connections, there was no guarantee of help because the crackdowns had become so severe.”
Public executions are used to terrorize communities into compliance, per Amnesty International. Choi said she witnessed an execution in Sinuiju in 2017 or 2018 of someone accused of distributing foreign media.
“Authorities told everyone to go, and tens of thousands of people from Sinuiju city gathered to watch,” she said. “They execute people to brainwash and educate us.”
Some escapees said children were forced to attend executions as part of “ideological education.”
Kim Eunju, 40, who fled in 2019, said students were taken to watch people be shot by firing squad. “When we were 16, 17, in middle school, they took us to executions and showed us everything,” she said. “People were executed for watching or distributing South Korean media. It’s ideological education: if you watch, this happens to you too.”
Another escapee claimed to have witnessed executions on two different occasions while in middle school.
Schools are also used for public humiliation. Kim Yerim, 26, said she saw high school seniors subjected to hours-long public criticism sessions for watching foreign television, in front of students of all ages.
Amnesty is calling on the North Korean government to repeal laws that criminalize access to information, abolish the death penalty, and immediately establish a moratorium on executions, including public executions. It also urged authorities to end arbitrary detention and discriminatory treatment on the basis of wealth or social status.
“This government’s fear of information has effectively placed the entire population in an ideological cage, suffocating their access to the views and thoughts of other human beings,” Brooks said.
“This completely arbitrary system, built on fear and corruption, violates fundamental principles of justice and internationally recognized human rights. It must be dismantled so that North Koreans can dare to enjoy the freedoms to which they are entitled.”
Amnesty International stated that it wrote to the North Korean government with its findings and invited a response, but none had been received. All names used in the report are pseudonyms to protect those who gave testimony.
