It was reported that in the middle of this month, under the instructions of the Central Anti-Socialist and Non-Socialist (hereinafter referred to as Anti-Socialist) Joint Command, the Pyongyang Anti-Socialist Joint Command and the North Hwanghae Province Anti-Socialist Joint Command held closed-door trials simultaneously on the same day.
A Daily NK source in Pyongyang reported on the 29th, “A closed-door trial for a case violating the Law on Rejecting Reactionary Ideology and Culture was held simultaneously in Pyongyang and Singye County, North Hwanghae Province on July 13th,” and “This trial was held in accordance with the instructions of the Central Anti-Reactionary Ideology and Culture Joint Command, and each resident who was referred to trial was sentenced to death.”
According to sources, those who were sent to a closed trial are a resident of the Pyongyang City National Tourism Bureau and a resident of the Singye County Forest Management Office in North Hwanghae Province, and both were accused of distributing South Korean movies, dramas, and songs.
It is said that these people were sentenced to the maximum sentence allowed by the law for not simply consuming Korean culture but for committing anti-state acts by accepting the ideology of an enemy country, based on reports from local residents and confessions made during the preliminary examination process.
The source said, “It was revealed that they did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to bring in puppet culture and artifacts, and also to actively sell them to residents to make money.” He added, “In the process, they also did not hesitate to express ideological dissatisfaction that ‘the state is deceiving us and treating us like servants,’ while comparing our country to capitalist countries, and this is why they were branded as anti-state actors.”
In particular, they were known to have openly said things like, “I am dissatisfied with being born in a country like this,” and were classified as reactionaries who had abandoned socialist ideology.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Anti-Communist Party of Korea harshly criticized them in this closed trial as being a serious threat to the country and announced that they were sentencing them to death as a measure to thoroughly prevent the spread of reactionary ideology and culture. They also decided to banish their families to areas isolated from society.
The source said, “This is a demonstration of the Republic’s strong and stern response to violations of the Act on the Rejection of Reactionary Ideology and Culture,” adding, “It is a clear example of the state’s will to strengthen judicial punishment in order to thoroughly block the spread of reactionary ideology and culture.”
Source: www.dailynk.com
