Prison Waits for North Korean Parents Who Will Allow Kids to Watch Hollywood, Foreign Films

north korea North Korean parents North Korean teens smuggling of Hollywood or foreign films smuggling of South Korean videos North Korea's law against foreign contents death penalty Parental Responsibility education for children begins at home growing up crooked Rejection of Reactionary Thought and Culture Act eradication of foreign content and influence South Korean slang terms upper-class Seoulites accent North Korean teenagers executed battle against the foreign culture

By Jo Anne Hubert , Parent Herald Feb 27, 04:56 pm

Photo: (Photo : Getty Images/KIM WON-JIN/AFP)

North Korean parents should be vigilant about what movies their children are watching because they and their kids can be imprisoned once caught watching Hollywood and foreign films, including the ones from South Korea.

In previous years, North Korean parents were pardoned when their children were caught watching or possessing "illicit films" smuggled inside the country. They were just given a serious warning to ensure it did not happen again.

This is not the case anymore. There will be no more leniency, and both parents and teens can face legal charges and imprisonment once caught, Fox News reported.

Teens caught watching Hollywood, foreign, or South Korean movies will serve five years in a prison camp while their parents will be in the labor center for six months.

Children also not allowed to talk, sing, or dance like South Koreans

A resident from the South Pyongan province, north of the capital Pyongyang, informed Radio Free Asia Korean Service that it was emphasized in the meeting that the punishment for disrupting social order by murder is of the same level when caught distributing movies and dramas of South Korea. Violators "will not be forgiven," and can face the maximum death penalty sentence.

Children will also be punished if they are caught wearing clothing with English phrases if they gather together in groups and are seen playing acoustic guitars or shaking their hips, or if high school girls are spotted with make-up.

If they are caught talking, dancing, or singing "like a South Korean," their parents will serve in the labor center for three months.

"The host of the meeting emphasized parental responsibility, saying that education for children begins at home. If parents do not educate their children from moment to moment, they will dance and sing of capitalism and become anti-socialists," the anonymous source stated.

Another source shared that these charges serve as a wake-up call for the parents in North Korea who are unaware that their kids are "growing up crooked" due to being so preoccupied with their business and making money and neglecting their kids' education along the way.

Read More: North Korea Creates Own Time Zone

The execution of two teens

North Korea's Rejection of Reactionary Thought and Culture Act made a lot of noise in 2020. According to 38 North, the legislation aims to eradicate foreign content and influence in the country and punish various cultural offenses seriously.

When the Korean War ended in 1953, the Korean language was also divided, like the country, into North and South, having their own standard spelling vocabularies and pronunciations.

The 2020 law stated that North Koreans caught picking up South Korean slang terms and speaking using the upper-class Seoulites accent can face hard labor in a prison camp for two long years.

The same law brings tougher punishments of up to 15 years of hard labor when caught watching South Korean videos and even the death penalty for those caught distributing them.

Because of this law, two North Korean teenagers, ages 16 and 17, were "allegedly" executed in October 2022 as punishment for selling thumb drives filled with movies and TV shows from South Korea.

The country's battle against foreign culture started in the 1980s with VHS tapes smuggled from Japan. North Korea has been very serious about its vigilance against foreign media, which they believe poses the same serious threat to the state.