{"id":12515,"date":"2024-06-19T13:09:58","date_gmt":"2024-06-19T12:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opendoorsuk.org\/?post_type=news&#038;p=12515"},"modified":"2024-06-19T13:15:34","modified_gmt":"2024-06-19T12:15:34","slug":"north-koreas-punishment-of-two-teenage-boys-is-troubling-reminder-of-regimes-brutality","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/wwl.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/blog\/news\/latest-news\/north-koreas-punishment-of-two-teenage-boys-is-troubling-reminder-of-regimes-brutality\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea\u2019s punishment of two teenage boys is troubling reminder of regime\u2019s brutality"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"930\" height=\"399\" src=\"https:\/\/wwl.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/06\/08.04.24-NK930-399-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12516\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wwl.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/06\/08.04.24-NK930-399-1.jpg 930w, https:\/\/wwl.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/06\/08.04.24-NK930-399-1-300x129.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wwl.opendoorsuk.org\/ireland\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/06\/08.04.24-NK930-399-1-768x329.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 930px) 100vw, 930px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>North Korea is number one on the World Watch List, making it the most dangerous country in the world to be a Christian<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two teenage boys in North Korea have been heavily punished for possessing and distributing South Korean pop music, and singing songs and performing South Korean dance routines in public. One has been given 15 years\u2019 hard labour, with the other given a life sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/two-sariwon-teenagers-publicly-tried-distributing-south-korean-songs-photos\/\">NK Today<\/a>, the two boys had often played songs and videos of South Korean idol singers on USB flash drives, and sang and performed to them at school and in their community. They were reported to the state by a security informant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the trial \u2013 which was made public as a warning to others \u2013 the authorities said \u2018the two boys can\u2019t be allowed to live in the same society as other North Koreans\u2019. The boys\u2019 mothers wept aloud and fainted as they heard the verdicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis inhumane punishment shows that Kim Jong-un is serious about prosecuting people who possess \u2018illegal\u2019 materials,\u201d says Brother Simon*, Open Doors coordinator for ministry among North Koreans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey are using these poor boys to set an example,\u201d he continues. \u201cRecently, North Korea expanded the laws that deal with the possession of foreign media and increased the sentences. Kim Jong-un is afraid that the people will be corrupted if they are immersed in South Korean series, movies and music. But there are also special stipulations for possessing or spreading \u2018superstitious materials\u2019, by which they mean the Bible and other Christian resources.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">UN discusses abuses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">News of the boys\u2019 imprisonment comes as the United Nations Security Council held <a href=\"https:\/\/press.un.org\/en\/2024\/sc15726.doc.htm\">a meeting on 12 June<\/a> to discuss the abuse of human rights in North Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Volker T\u00fcrk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, was among various contributers to the meeting. He highlighted three laws that have made life more difficult for North Koreans: one deals with the consumption of foreign media; another criminalises the use of language not in line with the Pyongyang dialect; and a third forces youth to conform to a socialist lifestyle.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPut simply, people in the DPRK (Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea) are at risk of death for merely watching or sharing a foreign television series,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n    <div class=\"pull-right-wrapper \">\n        <blockquote><p>\u201cChristianity is completely forbidden and the Bible is a book that\u2019s almost always hidden&#8221;<\/p> <cite>Brother Simon<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also spoke about the forced labour of prisoners and the estimated 100,000 people who have recently disappeared inside and even outside the country (especially in Japan and South Korea, where citizens have been abducted by North Korean secret agents in the past).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gymhyok Kim, a North Korean, talked about his discovery of the \u2018horrific truth\u2019 of the regime \u2013 political prison camps, deaths from starvation, public executions, and people risking their lives to escape. \u201cI realised that the Kim family that I had wanted to serve were not my heroes, but dictators denying countless people\u2019s freedom just to build their own power,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Together with his North Korean friends studying in Beijing, he decided to share his experiences and insights, saying, \u201cIf everyone knew the truth, North Korea would have to change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, in 2011, their group was discovered by the North Korean authorities, forcing him to flee to South Korea to avoid arrest. He survived and found freedom, but it came \u2018at a great cost\u2019 \u2013 he has not had contact with his family for 12 years. \u201cThe painful fact that I was the only one to survive and reach freedom torments me to this day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He strongly criticised the arbitrary detentions, torture, public executions and forced labour, as well as the heavy investment in its military at the expense of the state\u2019s responsibility to care for people. \u201cIf they developed the economy instead of missiles, there would be no need for any North Koreans to starve to death,\u201d he said. \u201cPlease stand on the side of the North Korean people, not the dictatorship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Threat to Christians overlooked<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The discussion is a welcome development, but according to Brother Simon*, it doesn\u2019t go far enough. \u201cPeople on the international stage often tend to forget that Christians are considered to be enemies of the state,\u201d he says. \u201cOne of the laws that were mentioned at the UN Council meeting has a specific category for people who distribute or read biblical materials. Only, in the official text of the law, Christianity is called \u2018superstition\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He says there are three key things that international governments need to know. \u201cFirstly, recognise that freedom of religion is a good barometer for the state of human rights in general,\u201d he explains. \u201cSecond, the punishment for distributing religious materials is extremely high. Many Christians who are arrested receive sentences above ten years in hard labour in a penal colony. Thirdly, remember that Christians have no freedom to meet each other. Officially, there are only four churches in North Korea. In reality, all the visitors are members of North Korea\u2019s ruling Worker\u2019s Party.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cChristianity is completely forbidden and the Bible is a book that\u2019s almost always hidden, in case there are random house searches,\u201d he adds. \u201cParents are afraid to tell their children about God. Instead, they are forced to teach them about the deeds of the leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>*Name changed for security reasons<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>North Korea is in the news with the visit of President Putin, but little continues to be shared about the country\u2019s atrocious abuse of human rights, as epitomised by the brutal punishment of two teenage boys for using and sharing songs and videos from South Korea. The ongoing abuses were recently covered in a UN Council discussion, but the specific threat to Christians was overlooked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":12517,"parent":8268,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[137],"class_list":["post-12515","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","tag-north-korea"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>North Korea\u2019s punishment of two teenage boys is troubling reminder of regime\u2019s brutality - Open Doors Ireland<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"North Korea is in the news with the visit of President Putin, but little continues to be shared about the country\u2019s atrocious abuse of human rights, as epitomised by the brutal punishment of two teenage boys for using and sharing songs and videos from South Korea. 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