Sunday 08/February/2026 – 11:17 PM
Amnesty International published a report stating that children and teenagers were executed because of the squid game series shown on the Netflix platform in… north korea.
The truth about North Korea executing children
This came during a report stating that North Korea executed children for watching the Squid Game series and listening to BTS songs, and Amnesty International issued a report revealing the horrifying details about this case.
According to the Amnesty International report, testimonies from North Korean escapees revealed brutal executions of children and teenagers due to watching the Squid Game series and listening to the songs of the South Korean band BTS, as this media or activity is considered hostile ideology and is punishable by death or imprisonment in forced labor camps.
Testimonials of people from North Korea
According to the Amnesty International and Reuters report, the organization relied on interviews with 25 who fled the country between 2012 and 2020, as consuming South Korean media has become a major crime that leads to harsh punishments, including public executions of children and teenagers accused of watching or distributing such content.
The report, which covers the period before borders were closed due to the Corona pandemic in 2020, describes how the Anti-Ideology and Hostile Culture Law issued in December 2020 imposes sentences of up to 15 years in labor camps for simple viewing, and death penalty for widespread distribution or organizing mass viewing sessions.
Among the most prominent testimonies is the story of a fugitive who heard about the execution of high school students in Yangang County because of the squid game, which depicts a dystopian world of deadly games, in addition to punishments for teenagers for listening to BTS songs, which is considered a symbol of corrupt southern culture as seen by the North Korean legislator.
Testimonies indicate random searches by the 109th Group of the Northern Security, where homes and mobile devices are checked for USB devices smuggled from China carrying these contents.
Under this system, the rich can pay bribes of up to $10,000 to avoid punishment, while the poor face a harsh fate, as in the case of a family who sold their home to save their daughter from a labor camp.
Painful stories from North Korea
A painful example is the testimony of Choi Su Vin, who witnessed a public execution in the city of Sinuiju of a person accused of distributing foreign media, in front of tens of thousands of citizens, including children who were forced to attend as an ideological lesson.
Kim Jun-sik also mentioned that three of his sisters’ friends were sentenced to years in labor camps for watching Southern dramas, because their families were unable to take bribes. Although there is no independent confirmation due to North Korea’s isolation, the report is consistent with previous reports from Radio Free Asia and the Korea Times, which indicated executions in provinces such as North Hamgyong over squid toy in 2021.
The report confirms that these practices violate international human rights laws, especially freedom of expression, amid an ongoing campaign against external cultural influences. This story raises questions about the limits of control in closed systems, and how a television series or pop song can cost the lives of innocent people.
