North Korean man executed for defying Kim Jong-un's music ban
A 22-year-old man was murdered in North Korea for the crime of listening to music. Kim Jong-un argues that hits sung by Western-styled young beauties are a "malignant cancer" poisoning the minds of his subjects.
7:13 PM EDT, July 1, 2024
Music, movies, and dramas from South Korea are winning the hearts of young residents of North Korea. Kim Jong-un sees their influence as a serious threat to the country.
After gaining fans worldwide, South Korean pop culture has stepped into the last frontier: North Korea, where its growing influence has prompted the leader of the totalitarian state to declare a new cultural war to stop it.
It all started in 2021 when seven people were ordered to be shot for listening to forbidden music. Kim Jong-un argues that hits sung by Western-styled young beauties are a "malignant cancer" poisoning the minds of his subjects.
Public execution. He listened to forbidden music
Now, as highlighted by news.com, North Korea has carried out a public execution of a 22-year-old man for listening to K-pop and sharing it with others.
Details of the case were published in a report on human rights in North Korea for 2024, prepared by South Korea's Ministry of Unification.
According to one testimony from an anonymous source, in 2022, another young man from South Hwanghae Province was publicly executed for listening to 70 South Korean songs, watching three movies, and distributing them.
The report also details the extensive efforts of North Korean authorities to control the external flow of information, with particular emphasis on youth.
The regime is also cracking down on "capitalist" fashion and hairstyles, targeting skinny jeans and T-shirts with foreign inscriptions, as well as dyed or long hair.
