A Man Who Smuggled Squid Game USB Flash Drives into North Korea to Receive Death Sentence

By
Shawn Ambrose
-

It’s safe to say that every single human on earth, as well as some cats, has seen the first season of Squid Game.

Every single human and cat except those in North Korea, that is.

Just as Singapore has banned certain drug-related films from screening here, North Korea has banned, well, basically every foreign film and television show in existence. 

This, of course, includes Squid Game.

So, what happens to those who attempt to smuggle a few copies of the show into the country?

Reader: A hefty fine, I’m guessing?

Nope. Death, life imprisonment, and hard labour.

A Man Who Smuggled Squid Game USB Flash Drives into North Korea to Receive Death Sentence

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you; a man has been sentenced to death in North Korea after he was caught distributing copies of the South Korean thriller.

It’s believed that he acquired copies of the show from China and copied them onto USB flash drives before bringing them into the country and selling them to students.

The poor man, who just wanted to bring some entertainment to the North Korean people, will be executed by firing squad.

What’s perhaps even more devastating is that a high school student who was caught watching the show was sentenced to life imprisonment. 

Reader: And here I thought the PMD ban was harsh

Another six people, also students who were caught watching Squid Game, have been sentenced to five years of hard labour.

The North Korean courts, not exactly known for their leniency, prosecuted the “offenders” under the new “Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture” law.

The principal and teacher of the students were also fired, and will likely be drafted to work in coal mines or rural areas.

Watching Foreign Movies Illegal in North Korea

Given how open and liberal North Korea is, you’re probably surprised that watching foreign movies is illegal there.

The authorities reserve the stiffest penalties for offenders who consume, possess or distribute content from capitalist countries such as the US.

The fear is that foreign media, including music and movies, will change the way people think, and more importantly, make them question the government’s policies and ideology.

As journalist James Pearson said in 2017, “When you talk to defectors who’ve left the country, many of them say, ‘It was looking at foreign media that started to help me question what it is that I hear from the government. Perhaps things aren’t OK here.'”

Squid Game is Netflix’s most-watched television show, enjoyed by viewers all over the globe. It’s just a shame that people across the border from where it was produced can’t enjoy it as well.

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]