North Korean man given death sentence for watching ‘Squid Game’

A North Korean man has been sentenced to death after he was caught smuggling copies of Netflix’s Squid Game into the country, reported Radio Free Asia (RFA).

Sources told RFA that the man was caught after high school students who had bought copies of the show from him were caught watching the show.

According to reports, the man had managed to smuggle copies of Squid Game into North Korea from China on USB flash drives.

The smuggler now faces death by firing squad, while the student who bought the drive was handed a life sentence.

Six others caught watching the show were also sentenced to five years of hard labour, and teachers and school administrators fired and banished to work in remote mines.

The punishments were handed out according to the country’s Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture act, passed in December 2020.

The law prohibits the entry and distribution of films, plays, music, and books in the country.

The RFA also reported that more could be implicated in the investigation as more details come out.