North Korean teen sentenced to 14 years in prison for watching five minutes of film

A teenager in North Korea was sentenced to 14 years in prison for watching just five minutes of a movie, reports local publication Daily NK.

North Korean teen sentenced to 14 years in prison for watching five minutes of film

A 14-year-old student from Yanggang province was sentenced to 14 years of hard labor for watching five minutes of the South Korean movie Uncle.

A source told Daily NK that the teenager was arrested five minutes after watching the movie.

They said today, Nov. 30: “On Nov. 7, a 14-year-old student of Hyesan City Primary and Middle School (our high school) was arrested while watching the South Korean movie The Uncle. They were arrested five minutes after watching the movie and sentenced to 14 years of hard labor.”

The shocking punishment is not that unusual in the country, which has a ban on the consumption or import of cultural materials from ‘hostile countries’ such as South Korea and the United States.

In legal material obtained by Daily NK, the punishment for those ‘who have directly watched, listened to or kept South Korean films, recordings, compilations, books, songs, paintings and photos for more than five years and less than 15 years’ is set as ‘correctional labor’.

Citizens of the hermit nation can even be punished for something as innocuous as their fashion choices.

An unnamed source told Radio Free Asia: “As leather coats began to be recognized as a symbol of power, private clothing traders asked officials of trading companies to import synthetic leather since September this year.

“They copied the design of the leather coats worn by the Highest Dignity and officials and are now being sold in the market.”