A man has reportedly been sentenced to death in North Korea for smuggling copies of Netflix’s blockbuster series “Squid Game” into the country.
According to Radio Free Asia (via Variety), authorities were led to the man after they caught high school students watching the series. The report states that “Squid Game” was smuggled into the country from China through the use of a USB flash drive.
The smuggler faces death by firing squad, while the students involved in bringing “Squid Game” into school are facing prison sentences.
Radio Free Asia reports: “A student who bought a drive received a life sentence, while six others who watched the show have been sentenced to five years hard labor, and teachers and school administrators have been fired and face banishment to work in remote mines.”
“Squid Game,” in particular, has been a source of anger in the dictatorship. North Korean propaganda site Arirang Meari excoriated the high-concept survival drama as depicting the “sad reality of a beastly South Korean society.”
The RFA report suggests that there is great public anxiety over the fate of the high school students and that more people could be implicated in the investigation.
Created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, “Squid Game” is a South Korean survival thriller that follows a group of contestants who agree to participate in a mysterious survival game with a grand prize total of nearly $40 million.
