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The TV shows people risk death to watch
Why fluffy, glossy K-dramas tempt North Koreans to brave the firing squad.
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Both South Koreans (legally) and North Koreans (illegally) fell head over heels for Crash Landing On You (2019), a fish-out-of-water romance.
PHOTO: TVN
The Economist
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In most countries, good television is cheap. A monthly Netflix subscription costs less than a takeaway pizza. In North Korea, by contrast, watching a gripping TV drama can cost you your life.
Under the “anti-reactionary thought” law of 2020, no North Korean may consume, possess or distribute the “rotten ideology and culture of hostile forces”. That means K-dramas and K-pop, as well as South Korean books, drawings and photographs.
