North Korea has made it known it does not approve of Netflix’s Squid Game. Now, the country is cracking down when it comes to its citizens watching the hit show. Apparently, a North Korean man received a death sentence after smuggling copies of the show and selling them to students.
Squid Game gained popularity in the U.S. for its violence and brutal storyline. The show features 456 debt-laden people competing for 45.6 billion won, or $38.3 million, of prize money in brutal survival games. The games feature two outcomes: advancement or death. Though Netflix has made it clear the South Korean hit show is fictional, North Korea disapproved of the show and banned it for a while.
According to Radio Free Asia, North Korean authorities caught several high school students watching Squid Game. Apparently, a smuggler brought a copy back from China and sold USB flash drives that contained the series. The smuggler received a death sentence, while the students caught with the show received lesser consequences.
North Korea passed a law last year “Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture,” which prohibits citizens from engaging in media like TV shows, film, plays, etc, and even music from capitalist countries specifically South Korea. Those caught distributing or engaging will receive serious disciplinary consequences. Some extreme consequences include life imprisonment and death sentences. This is the first time the law applies to minors.
One student received a life sentence while six students received five years of hard work labor. Some teachers and school administrators face firings and being forced to work in remote mines.
Squid Game has become Netflix’s most-watched show. It has been watched in 94 countries and viewed over 100 million times in its first month of release. Squid Game has been renewed for a second season.
