North Korea humiliates teenage girls with public parade for watching K-drama

North Korean teen girls were filmed bursting into tears and apologising in front of soldiers, in disturbing new footage.

North Korea has paraded teenage girls, forcing them to apologise and leading them away in handcuffs in a humiliating public display.

Footage of the disturbing public shaming was shared by South Korea’s public broadcaster KBS this week.

The girls were being punished for watching South Korean media including South Korean drama TV shows, a genre wildly popular throughout South-East Asia and beyond.

The North Korean regime has banned its citizens from consuming foreign music, TV and movies.

Anyone caught violating the restrictions can face punishment including public shaming, prison and even the death penalty.

A teenage girl sobs during the public humiliation. Picture: KBS

Officials publicly reprimanded the girls for watching K-drama. Picture: KBS

The teenage girls sat with their heads bowed. Picture: KBS

The footage showed a teen girl with her face mark removed, bursting into tears as she was positioned in front of a microphone.

“I made the mistake of listening to and distributing impure published propaganda,” she said, before being led away in cuffs.

Soldiers were seen sternly overseeing the event.

According to KBS, North Korea has been intensifying control over its citizens amid worsening economic conditions.

A girl cries as she is paraded by officials. Picture: KBS

The teenage girls were publicly humiliated. Picture: KBS

They were led away in handcuffs. Picture: KBS

The footage was broadcast in North Korea as an “educational” warning to its citizens, and are an example of North Korea’s “severe human rights abuses”, KBS reported.

Earlier this year, two teenage boys were sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for watching and distributing K-dramas.

Jang Mi, who defected from North Korea in 2020 slammed the event.

“This is the first time I’m seeing high school students get punished. For me, it is shocking to see them handcuffed.”