Two Sariwon teenagers publicly tried for distributing South Korean songs and photos

Two teenagers from Sariwon were recently convicted in a public trial for distributing South Korean songs and photos, Daily NK has learned.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source in North Hwanghae Province told Daily NK on Wednesday that two high school students from Sariwon's Mangum district were publicly tried on May 23 for “inciting corrupt and depraved minds.” of capitalism by distributing songs and photos of capitalism. Puppet state [South Korea].” One of the boys was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor and the other to life imprisonment.

The trial took place in a conference room at the Sariwon court in the presence of the heads of all neighborhood watch units in the Mangum area, as well as school staff and ordinary citizens.

The two boys had often streamed songs and videos of South Korean singers on USB drives without their parents' knowledge. They were so obsessed with the songs that they sang them and performed the dances at school.

Even when they were not at school, the two boys would casually sing South Korean songs and perform dances in the presence of members of their neighborhood watch group. Their behavior rubbed off on other teenagers in their neighborhood when they were reported by a state security informant and brought to justice.

“This public trial was intended to sound the alarm for all of Sariwon. While public attention was focused on the trial, authorities denounced the two boys for their traitorous affection for the “puppet state”, knowing full well that South Korea is an enemy state and not the same nation as the North Korea. The authorities concluded by saying that the two boys could not be allowed to live in the same society as other North Koreans,” the source said.

The mothers of the two boys were also summoned and kept their heads down throughout the trial. When their sentences were read, the mothers uttered terrible screams and immediately fainted.

“Those who attended the trial believed that the defendants, being teenagers, would be sentenced to a few years of juvenile detention at most. They were therefore stunned by the heavy sentences handed down at the end of the trial. Many did not understand why the boys had to be punished so harshly when it was not as if they had killed anyone, and lamented that the world was gradually becoming more brutal,” the source said.

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