A North Korean man was sentenced to death by firing squad after he allegedly smuggled in copies of Netflix’s Squid Game and gave them to high school students, Radio Free Asia reports. The sentence will be carried out by firing squad, sources with knowledge of the matter told the news outlet.
According to the report, “the smuggler brought a copy of Squid Game into North Korea back from China and sold USB flash drives containing the series.
The smuggler was not the only one punished over the popular Netflix show. 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 or sent to work in remote mines, RFA reported.
Citing a law enforcement source in North Hamgyong province, RFA reported that the smuggler was caught after a high school student secretly bought a USB flash drive containing the South Korean drama and watched it with one of his best friends in class.
“The friend told several other students, who became interested, and they shared the flash drive with them. They were caught by the government strike force that specializes in catching illegal video watchers, who had received a tipoff,” said the source.