Residents of North Korea are smuggling in USB drives to watch Squid Game. Radio Free Asia reported that this was despite North Korean propaganda which decried Squid Game.
North Korea Propaganda Against Squid Game
The North Korean propaganda against Squid Game was done as an indictment on the capitalist system of South Korea. Residents of North Korea, however, told Radio Free Asia, a particular US-funded radio service in Asia, about the presence of Squid Game in their country.
According to the residents, Squid Game has entered North Korea through USB flash drives and SD cards smuggled by ship inland. The residents say that the show speaks both to the few wealthy citizens of North Korea and the country's young people.
North Korean Residents Watching Squid Game
The resident said that they secretly watch the show through their portable media players at night under their blanket. According to the story by CNet, as of the moment, it is impossible to pinpoint the scale of how popular the show is in North Korea.
The fact, however, that people are watching it at all was referred to by Cnet as "remarkable." North Korea is known as a hermit nation within normal times. The country even became ever more insular when it came to responding to the pandemic.
Shutting Borders Caused Food Problem
North Korea shut its borders into China which is one country that Squid Game is being smuggled from. When North Korea shut its borders, this led to food storages that the UN noted, in an article by BBC, has worsened the supply for the population that has already been starving.
In 2020, North Korea's government passed a law called the "anti-reactionary thought" law. This law imposed drastic punishment for individuals that were found distributing or consuming foreign media.
Watching Squid Game Could Mean Death Penalty
This meant that the spreading or the watching of Squid Game actually came with the risks of individuals incurring a death penalty. Another resident told Radio Free Asia that the law enforcement is not playing around with North Korea's new law.
The resident said that law enforcement is fiercely trying to root out every particular instance of capitalist culture. Times, however, are tough during the pandemic which means that even the police are trying hard to make ends meet.
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Residents Pay Police to Watch Squid Game
The resident that paying them a little will make them go away if they are caught watching South Korean media. This means that even more people in North Korea will be watching the popular Netflix's Squid Game moving forward.
North Korea's regime has also tried to put a spin on the show noting that it is proof that capitalism doesn't work. The resident said that the state media, in October, called it the reality of living in a world where individuals are only judged by money.
The state-run media wrote that Squid Game makes people realize the sad reality of what they referred to as the "beastly South Korean society" wherein human beings are driven into extreme competition. The media said that as a result, their humanity is being wiped out.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.
