Eyewitnesses said they were told people watching South Korean movies will be “sentenced to the maximum penalty – death” as they watched the two teens being killed
Two teens have been slaughtered in North Korea for watching South Korean movies.
The two boys, who were aged between 16 and 17, were executed in-front of horrified locals on an airfield in Hyesan.
The incident took place in October, but information about their killlings only emerged last week.
Another lad, who is of a similar age, was also executed but for murdering his stepmum. Locals said they were told that both crimes were "equally evil."
Witnesses said they were forced to watch the executions and confirmed what had happened in an interview with Radio Free Asia.
One said: "Hyesan residents gathered in groups at the runway.
"The authorities put the teen-aged students in front of the public, sentenced them to death, and immediately shot them."
The residents of Hyesan, which sits on the Chinese border, said they were told: "Those who watch or distribute South Korean movies and dramas, and those who disrupt social order by murdering other people, will not be forgiven and will be sentenced to the maximum penalty–death."
Officials typically use executions to terrify people into behaving in a certain way.
About a week before the slaughter, public meetings were held where locals were told about a crackdown on crimes involving foreign media.
In particular, they were warned about watching or listening to movies or music from the more prosperous South Korea.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Kim Jong Un's uncle was killed after being hunted down by dogs in a cruel execution.
A Chinese state-backed newspaper claimed that Jang Song-thaek was killed and fed to 120 hounds that had been starved for a total of three days, before devouring his human flesh in 2013.
Jang was once described by the state as "despicable human scum, worse than a dog".
Further reports suggest officials watched as the dogs tore into their meal, while eight of Jang's close allies were also executed by the state.
The North Korean leader is known for his brutal dictatorship – in which any dissent against the regime is likely to be met with a brutal crackdown from the country's security forces.
The purge was reportedly the removal of "factionalist filth" in the communist state, according to Kim Jong-un.
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