A North Korean man has been sentenced to death after he was caught trying to smuggle copies of Netflix’s hit show Squid Game into the country, reported Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Sources told RFA that the authorities were led to the man after high school students who had bought copies of the show from him were caught watching the show.
According to reports, the man had managed to smuggle copies of Squid Game into North Korea from China on USB flash drives, while the show isn’t available in China but pirated copy was used to smuggle through flash drive.
The smuggler faces death sentence, while the student who bought the drive was handed a life sentence. Six others caught watching the show were also sentenced to five years of hard labour, and teachers slong with school administrators fired and banished to work in remote mines.
The punishments were handed out according to the country’s Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture act, passed in December 2020.The law prohibits the entry and distribution of films, plays, music, and books in the country.
The Radio Free Asia RFA also reported that more could be implicated in the investigation as more details come out.