North Korean authorities in Chongjin, North Hamgyong province, staged a large scale public criticism session last month targeting nine young people in their 20s who were arrested for watching and distributing foreign videos.
A source in North Hamgyong province told Daily NK on Tuesday that the nine young people, all from Sinam neighborhood in Chongjin’s Sinam district, were accused of gathering in groups to watch and circulate South Korean videos along with what the source described as capitalist films from Europe and China. The source said the public criticism session was held on Aug. 18, led by judicial authorities, and drew a large crowd of Chongjin residents.
According to the source, the young people had gathered at a secret location in July to watch South Korean films and other foreign videos when they were caught in a surprise raid by the city’s Ministry of Social Security. The Ministry of Social Security is North Korea’s police agency responsible for maintaining public order and monitoring citizens, distinct from the National Intelligence Agency, which handles political surveillance and counterintelligence. Officers searched the homes of each young person involved and found a large number of portable storage devices containing foreign videos. Family members were also summoned to the Ministry of Social Security for questioning about whether they had watched the videos or taken part in distributing them.
City authorities frame case as organized threat
Judging the case to be especially serious, city judicial authorities decided to hold a public criticism session featuring the nine young people. Officials revealed that the group had watched not only South Korean films and news broadcasts but also a large volume of European and Chinese films containing capitalist elements, and that some videos had been passed on to others. Authorities described the conduct as “the most serious and grave anti-socialist act that shakes the very foundation of the system.”
Word of the sudden session spread quickly, and Chongjin residents, particularly young people, gathered at the venue in what the source described as an atmosphere of intense fear. The scale of the case appeared to compound the alarm. Such offenses have historically involved just one or two individuals acting alone, but the discovery of a large group watching and distributing videos together raised the possibility that authorities viewed it as evidence of an organized anti-socialist group, making the mood at the session especially tense.
During the session, other young people reportedly took turns publicly denouncing the nine defendants. Once the proceedings ended, the nine young people who had been made to stand before the crowd were escorted back to the Ministry of Social Security.
“This case plainly shows that the state is waging fierce ideological control over a new generation that has become exposed to capitalism,” the source said.
The source added that many Chongjin residents privately sympathized with the young people, believing they were simply trying to satisfy their curiosity by secretly watching South Korean and other foreign videos. While some residents felt the state was being coldhearted in ignoring young people’s natural desire for novelty and instead meting out merciless punishment, the general mood, the source said, was one of silence, with residents cautiously watching one another rather than voicing their views openly.
Reporting from inside North Korea
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September 10, 2026 at 06:33PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)