# North korea executes students for watching Squid games **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** netflix\ **Created:** [February 8, 2026, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491 "2026-02-08T05:29:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/21 "2026-02-09T07:06:36Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > The point being that you can load but not play approved DVD media while loading and playing unapproved programming on an SD card or USB drive which can be yanked and hidden at any time. This part of the Wikipedia entry sounds horrifying. > According to defectors, the Notel’s multi-format support is used for evading detection of illegal media consumption: A North Korean disc can be placed in the device while a South Korean or foreign video is played from a USB drive or the SD card, which could be easily removed in case government inspectors arrive and check the device’s temperature to see if it has been recently used, leaving the DVD disc as an alternative explanation. Imagine a government inspector shows up randomly to see if your entertainment device is warm, and if it is, demands to see what you were watching. Originally sourced from this article: > **[Portable media player gives North Koreans illicit window on the world](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/28/north-korea-internet-notel)** > > £35 device allows residents to listen to pop music and watch South Korean soaps, Hollywood films and outside news programmes, despite government restrictions ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/22 "2026-02-09T07:22:01Z")
> **Summary** > > > [@fedman1](#): > > > > including [Netflix’s hit series “Squid Game,”](https://nypost.com/2025/12/31/world-news/boy-12-dies-after-recreating-scene-from-squid-games-for-prank/) > > [Boy dies after recreating scene from 'Squid Game'](https://nypost.com/2025/12/31/world-news/boy-12-dies-after-recreating-scene-from-squid-games-for-prank/) > > I don’t think you can blame this one on North Korea. Particularly since the kid was in Glasshoughton, West Yorkshire, England, the UK. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/23 "2026-02-09T13:12:25Z")
**Moderating:** This thread is about North Korea and not Squid Games despite it being in the title. So I’ll just hide your post. ---
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/24 "2026-02-09T13:31:23Z")
My understanding is that it’s a race between North Korea, Turkmenistan, and Eritrea. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/25 "2026-02-09T13:41:47Z")
[_The Orphan Master’s Son_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Orphan_Master%27s_Son) is a novel about life in NK. I think it’s fairly accurate, so if anyone is interested in what it’s like, maybe read that. Spoiler alert: It’s horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/26 "2026-02-09T14:52:00Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > I am not sure that Russia can be dismissed as just another authoritarian dictatorship. If they only care about politics, why are they coming down on groups like the LGBTQ community? Part of retaining power as a dictatorship is giving the people somebody to hate and fear so they’ll be more accepting of the police intrusion in their lives. Folks riled up into a moral panic about [whoever] are much happier signing up to live under a dictator’s thumb as long as he’s “protecting” them from the [whoever]s. Can be immigrants, LGBTQ+, other races, other religions; it doesn’t much matter. But identifying and vilifying an Other is an essential part of the Fascist dictator playbook. Right now the USA’s fascist ~~movement~~ government is trying all those out-groups on for size to see which one(s) stick the best. Conversely, over in Russia, they don’t have much in the way of immigrants, other races, and other religions. So LGBTQ+ it is. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/27 "2026-02-09T19:12:01Z")
One of the most interesting quotes from the book _Nothing to Envy_ is after escaping from North Korea into China: > [@](#): > > Dr. Kim couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen a bowl of pure white rice. What was a bowl of rice doing there, just sitting out on the ground? She figured it out just before she heard the dog’s bark. Up until that moment, a part of her had hoped that China would be just as poor as North Korea. She still wanted to believe that her country was the best place in the world. The beliefs she had cherished for a lifetime would be vindicated. But now she couldn’t deny what was staring her plainly in the face: dogs in China ate better than doctors in North Korea. > **[Nothing to Envy Quotes by Barbara Demick(page 2 of 7)](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/6358552-nothing-to-envy-ordinary-lives-in-north-korea?page=2)** > > 199 quotes from Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea: ‘The night sky in North Korea is a sight to behold. It might be the most brilliant in Nor... ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/28 "2026-02-09T19:19:00Z")
_Nothing to Envy_ is a terrific book. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/29 "2026-02-09T19:21:30Z")
I spent six weeks in South Korea in the mid-90s so this is a bit dated but an interesting story anyway. There was a NK spy off the coast of SK in a small boat doing some sort of surveillance. The boat ran aground in SK and was damaged so he tried to hide for a bit and maybe steal some food. He went to a barn in the boonies reasoning that even if he was caught he would have plenty of time to escape. It didn’t occur to him that a remote farmhouse would have a telephone and authorities could be there in minutes. The first thing he was asked was if he wanted something to eat. He asked for a type of fish that was a rare delicacy in the North thinking he was being a smartass. They were like, “ok be right back” and got some at a store in a few minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/30 "2026-02-09T19:32:51Z")
Two other anecdotes I’ve read: 1. A few North Koreans heard a story about two South Korean women quarreling over a parking spot and couldn’t believe it and thought it must be a joke because how could a nation have so many cars that an empty parking spot would be scarce and worth arguing about? 2. another North Korean, escaping to China, seeing an empty Coca-Cola glass bottle floating in a stream, and couldn’t believe that someone would just discard such a priceless and valuable thing. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/31 "2026-02-09T19:41:07Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I spent six weeks in South Korea in the mid-90s so this is a bit dated but an interesting story anyway. As I understand it, the mid 1990s was particularly bad in North Korea due to a famine that lasted until the end of the decade. > **[1990s North Korean famine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990s_North_Korean_famine)** > > The North Korean famine (Korean: 조선기근), dubbed by the government as the Arduous March (고난의 행군), was a period of mass starvation together with a general economic crisis from 1994 to 2000 in North Korea. During this time there was an increase in defection from North Korea which peaked towards the end of the famine period. > The famine stemmed from a variety of factors. Economic mismanagement and the loss of Soviet support caused food production and imports to decline rapidly. A series of floods and ... While I’m sure things aren’t great now, they are presumably better than they were at that time. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/32 "2026-02-09T19:45:54Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > [_The Orphan Master’s Son_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Orphan_Master%27s_Son) is a novel about life in NK. I think it’s fairly accurate, so if anyone is interested in what it’s like, maybe read that. Spoiler alert: It’s horrifying. Another excellent book (not a novel, a true account) is _Without You, There Is No Us_ by Suki KIm. A writer posing as a missionary, she was a teacher for a time in Pyongyang. Not as horrifying as perhaps some other accounts, because by the standards of NK, Pyongyang is a relatively nice place, but reserved strictly for party officials and loyalists. Normal people aren’t even allowed to travel there without special permission. But it does convey the incredible repressiveness of the regime in North Korea. Truly a hell-hole. > [@Atamasama](#): > > While I’m sure things aren’t great now, they are presumably better than they were at that time. A North Korean soldier who defected to South Korea a few years ago was found to be not only malnourished, but infected with intestinal parasites from whatever he was being fed. So no, things aren’t great, except for Kim Jong Un. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/33 "2026-02-09T19:59:54Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > A North Korean soldier who defected to South Korea a few years ago was found to be not only malnourished, but infected with intestinal parasites from whatever he was being fed. So no, things aren’t great, except for Kim Jong Un. Yeah. The crisis they were experiencing in the 90s ended only because outside aid did eventually make it in, but they are still a badly malnourished nation, and there have been a couple of times since then that it looked like that same crisis was going to repeat itself. It has barely avoided getting back to that level multiple times. The problem is that North Korea has very little to feed itself with. It’s a mountainous country and much of it is frozen half the year. It can’t sustain itself without trade, yet they have cut themselves off from the rest of the world and don’t allow it. So the people starve. It’s a miserable situation, where a tiny elite group forces everyone else to suffer. I saw something like 60% of the population lives in a state of extreme poverty, and much of the rest of that population is the “privileged” industrial working class (and military) that just starves a little less than the rest of the people. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/34 "2026-02-09T20:13:09Z")
The situation in North Korea is such a shame, especially since the population of South Korea is declining. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/35 "2026-02-09T20:16:08Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The weird thing is that until the late 1960s, North Korea was actually more advanced than South Korea. In the decade or so after the Korean War ended, South Korea was actually a very poor nation while North Korea was actually more advanced. Since 1970 or so, South Korea has advanced tremendously while North Korea has declined. Interesting and unexpected! I looked it up: [An Unpromising Recovery: South Korea’s Post-Korean War Economic Development: 1953-1961 - Association for Asian Studies](https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/an-unpromising-recovery-south-koreas-post-korean-war-economic-development-1953-1961/) "In 1953, both North and South Korea were shattered by the destructive three-year Korean War that left upward of two million dead and cities and towns in ruin. Already poor prior to the war, neither country had very promising prospects for the future. However, in the first eight years after the conflict, North Korea carried out an impressive recovery under a highly organized, purposeful government that appeared to be laying the foundations for a modern industrial society. By contrast, South Korea during this time was characterized by political corruption and turmoil, sluggish economic growth, and dependency on massive aid from the United States. Overcrowded, possessing few natural resources, artificially severed in half, cut off from the more industrial and developed North, riddled with official corruption and political instability, few countries must have seemed a less promising candidate for an economic takeoff." ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/36 "2026-02-09T20:19:16Z")
> [@susan](#): > > _Nothing to Envy_ is a terrific book. Just started reading it. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/37 "2026-02-09T20:23:53Z")
Interesting. I wasn’t aware of this post-war history. There’s a picture I posted (probably more than once) of the Korean peninsula at night, taken from the ISS. The difference between the south and the north today is incredible. South Korea is ablaze in light, while the north is almost entirely dark. The only noticeable spot of light in the north is Pyongyang. The image is like a metaphor. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/38 "2026-02-09T20:32:41Z")
I mentioned a few posts up that I spent time in S Korea on business. My employer had two factories there. The older engineers started going there in the early 80s. They said that things dramatically changed in the lead up to the 1988 Olympics. They cleaned things up in Seoul, especially the infrastructure and the difference was remarkable. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/39 "2026-02-09T20:36:43Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > another North Korean, escaping to China, seeing an empty Coca-Cola glass bottle floating in a stream, and couldn’t believe that someone would just discard such a priceless and valuable thing. “The Chinese must be crazy!” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2026, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491/40 "2026-02-10T04:20:00Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > “The Chinese must be crazy!"   ISWYDT. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-executes-students-for-watching-squid-games/1027491.md?page=3)