More than 1000 North Koreans have been jailed for secretly watching South Korean TV shows and films as the communist regime battles an inflow of foreign culture, a Seoul-based defector group says.
North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity said some 1200 people were in jail in the northwestern city of Kaechon for the offence. It cited a source in the prison, which has a total 3000 inmates.
Access to foreign pop culture is banned for ordinary people.
But a growing stream of pirated DVDs and music CDs smuggled from China, the North's neighbour and main trade partner, has made the capitalist South's pop culture increasingly popular.
Nth Koreans jailed for watching TV
Photo / Brett Phibbs
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