A man has been sentenced to death for smuggling copies of Netflix’s hit series “Squid Game” into North Korea, according to Radio Free Asia (via Variety).
According to accounts, authorities were led to the man when high school students were spotted viewing the show. “Squid Game” was smuggled into the country from China via a USB flash drive, according to the investigation.
The smuggler will be shot by a firing squad, while the students who brought “Squid Game” to school will be sentenced to prison.
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.”
According to the RFA report, there is widespread public concern about the fate of the high school pupils, and more people could be involved in the probe.
“Squid Game,” a South Korean survival thriller directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, depicts a group of participants who agree to take part in a secret survival game with a grand reward of roughly $40.