The totalitarian tyrant has told North Koreans attempting to tune their TVs to Seoul’s frequencies they could be marched in front of a firing squad and shot to death. Residents in South Hwanghae province have reportedly ordered by Kim’s state police not to watch the “decadent video materials of capitalism”. The area is located near the border with South Korea and citizens in the North can easily pick up the forbidden channels by adjusting their televisions.
A source told Radio Free Asia’s Korean service that authorities have launched a crackdown on the illegal activity including a death sentence threat for those found breaking the law.
The insider said: “In a recent lecture, they told us they are aware that a growing number of people are able to manipulate the frequencies to watch South Korean TV programmes.
“They said that regardless of any individual’s status, those caught in violation could be executed by firing squad. They want to instill fear.”
The source added many North Koreans have been inspired to watch South Korean television shows because of the perceived thaw in relations between Pyongyang and the West.
Kim Jong-un is due to meet US President Donald Trump for a second time in February as the pair work to denuclearise the Korean peninsula.
Critics have labelled the summit nothing more than a photo-opportunity after Kim failed to follow through on commitments made when he met Mr Trump last year.
However instead of focusing on scaling back his nuclear programme, Kim is tightening his grip on his indoctrinated population.
The source added authorities fear because of the proximity to the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), those in South Hwanghae are particularly susceptible to defecting to the South.
The source said: “The authorities have been focusing on South Hwanghae because it is relatively close to the DMZ.
“They believe that the people living in the border regions are more likely to turn into an opposition force, posing a threat to the system.”
The firing squad threat has not been independently verified but the measure could likely be another way in which the authoritarian state attempts to isolate its citizens from the outside world.
Controlling what residents inside North Korea can read and watch is how Kim, his father and grandfather, have held on to power for so long.
North Koreans have no access to the internet or outside news sources and many get their only glimpse of the wider world through South Korean-led campaigns to drop leaflets over towns and villages north of the border.