Nth Koreans jailed for watching TV

Photo / Brett Phibbs

More than 1000 North Koreans have been jailed for secretly watching South Korean TV shows and films as the communist regime battles an inflow of foreign culture, a Seoul-based defector group says.

North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity said some 1200 people were in jail in the northwestern city of Kaechon for the offence. It cited a source in the prison, which has a total 3000 inmates.

Access to foreign pop culture is banned for ordinary people.

But a growing stream of pirated DVDs and music CDs smuggled from China, the North's neighbour and main trade partner, has made the capitalist South's pop culture increasingly popular.