A North Korean man is to be executed for bringing back a copy of Netflix's hit series Squid Game into the country according to the reports. The smash-hit survival Korean drama has earned Netflix £650m. The smuggler believed to be a student is said to have returned from China with a digital version of the hit South Korean series stored on a hidden USB flash drive. It is very well known to everybody that in Kim Jong Un’s North Korea, Western media, movies, and series are totally banned. Violators of this prohibition may face the death penalty.

The arrests took place in the country's North Hamgyong province which borders with China, over the last week. According to reports, the student who bought a copy of the drive received a death sentence, while seven high school lads who watched the show have been sentenced to five years of hard labor. As per the sources, the student with the USB will be executed by the firing squad. Squid Game 2: Hwang Dong-hyuk Confirms Second Season of the Netflix Show, Says ‘You Leave Us No Choice’.

Still From 'Squid Game' (File Image)

According to certain reports, this is the first time the North Korean government has enforced its “Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture” law, which sets the maximum penalty for “watching, keeping, or distributing media from capitalist countries” as execution, on minors.  Moreover, the stringent sanctions on this East-Asian country, aimed at controlling the nuclear and weapon programme, also contributed to the food resources running dry.

“Residents are flooded by anxiety, and high tension, as the seven will be mercilessly interrogated until the authorities can find out how the drama was illegally exported in with the border which was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic,” the source told the news portal. The students were caught by the government's surveillance service - 109 Sangmu - who had 'received a tipoff' that some teenagers were watching a Western TV show. The Central Committee has dismissed the school principal, their youth secretary, and their homeroom teacher. As the administration took this occurrence very seriously, claiming that the education of the students has been ignored.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 26, 2021 01:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).