Authorities in North Korea have actually started a crackdown on teenage culture, targeting teenagers who store underground pop music and illegal videos on their mobile phones, in an effort to avoid South Korean patterns from getting more traction, regional sources state.

Those captured in the crackdown, which began in late April, will not be merely offered detention– their instructors and moms and dads will likewise deal with serious penalty, they informed RFA.

Though mobile phone usage is allowed North Korea, the nation’s smartphones all have actually an application called “Red Flag” running in the background that keeps a log of web pages checked out by users and arbitrarily takes screenshots. These can be seen, however not erased with another app called “Trace Viewer.”

The screenshots can be inspected by authorities at any time, however typically the cops just inspect the phones of people of interest, or make random checks to obtain kickbacks.

And now under the instructions of the Korean Employees’ Party’s Central Committee, the cops are targeting teenagers and destroying their cell phone enjoyable.

” Nowadays it is ending up being a pattern for teenagers to bring around North Korean tunes made in the South Korean [K-pop] design, videos and books from unidentified sources, limited images and texts composed utilizing South Korean [spelling, vocabulary and slang], on their mobile phones and other gadgets,” a source in North Pyongan province, who asked for privacy for legal factors, informed RFA’s Korean Service Wednesday.

“On the Central Committee’s order, authorities have begun to censor mobile phones,” the source stated.

According to the source, the crackdown began when random checks on college and high school trainees exposed the contraband information on a number of their smartphones.

“The teenagers’ behavior has been reported to the Central Committee and they’ve ordered nation-wide mobile phone censorship for students,” the source stated.

“They think that the kids’ desire to be culturally like South Koreans poses a threat to the system,” the source stated.

However the children were offered warning.

“The Local Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist Youth League organized emergency meetings to prevent young students from spreading the South Korean-like culture using electronic devices, including mobile phones,” the source stated, describing North Korea’s main youth league, imitated the Soviet Komsomol.

“Many students are anxious because they warned of strong legal punishment for those who are found guilty,” the source added.

The source likewise stated that not just the teenagers would be penalized, however likewise authorities of their schools and leaders of their youth league conferences.

” They need to collectively take duty. The [teens] are likewise worried as they will undergo penalty throughout weekly self-criticism sessions,” the source added.

Self-criticism, or saenghwal chonghwa, is a routine act by which the people report to the authorities on any imperfection they may have in commitment to the state.

The youth league leaders and the authorities have actually arranged assessment groups to routinely inspect the teenagers’ gadgets, according to another source, a local who asked for privacy to speak easily.

” Trainees are busy eliminating [all the contraband files] from their mobile phones and electronic storage gadgets,” the second source informed RFA Wednesday.

” Young trainees in Ryanggang province and other locations surrounding to the border [with China] typically store illegal information on their mobile phones, due to the fact that they can quickly get South Korean music and dramas from China,” the second source stated.

“So now the students are staying up all night trying to erase all the illegal data, because if they are caught from the crackdown, not only they, but also their parents and school officials will be punished.”

Reported by Myungchul Lee for RFA’s Korean Service. Equated by Leejin Jun. Composed in English by Eugene Whong.

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