Boys sentenced for listening to pop music – level 3
24-01-2024 07:00
North Korean authorities publicly sentenced two 16-year-olds to 12 years of hard labor for watching K-pop, as revealed in video footage released by the South and North Development (SAND) Institute, an organization working with North Korean defectors.
The footage, though unverified independently, displays the teenagers in Pyongyang convicted of consuming South Korean movies and music videos. North Korea, enforcing stringent measures against exposure to South Korean entertainment, intensified restrictions with a 2020 ‘anti-reactionary thought’ law.
The harsh punishment aims to deter similar behavior and indicates the perceived influence of South Korean culture in North Korean society. SAND President Choi Kyong-hui, a North Korean defector, suggests the video serves as a warning and highlights efforts by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to revert the youth’s mindset to traditional North Korean values.
Difficult words: stringent (strict, precise), defector (a person who leaves their country or political party and joins an opposing one), revert (return to a previous state, topic, etc.).
You can watch the video news lower on this page.
What do recent developments in North Korea, such as the public sentencing of two teenagers for watching K-pop and the enforcement of an 'anti-reactionary thought' law, reveal about the government's control over its citizens and the influence of South Korean culture?
LEARN 3000 WORDS with NEWS IN LEVELS
News in Levels is designed to teach you 3000 words in English. Please follow the instructions
below.
How to improve your English with News in Levels:
Test
- Do the test at Test Languages.
- Go to your level. Go to Level 1 if you know 1-1000 words. Go to Level 2 if you know 1000-2000 words. Go to Level 3 if you know 2000-3000 words.
Reading
- Read two news articles every day.
- Read the news articles from the day before and check if you remember all new words.
Listening
- Listen to the news from today and read the text at the same time.
- Listen to the news from today without reading the text.
Writing
- Answer the question under today’s news and write the answer in the comments.
Speaking
- Choose one person from the Skype section.
- Talk with this person. You can answer questions from Speak in Levels.
Stock images by Depositphotos
