Kim had dubbed the southern cultural imports a “vicious cancer” corrupting the “attire, hairstyles, speeches, behaviors” of young people in North Korea.
North Korea has reportedly executed at least seven people in the past decade for watching or selling K-pop videos.
The disturbing revelation was documented in a new report from a South Korea-based human rights group that was reviewed by Fox News.
Titled “Mapping Killings Under Kim Jong Un,” the lengthy report by the Transitional Justice Working Group uncovered at least seven executions in the Hermit Kingdom dating back to 2012 connected to the indulgence of K-pop.
The executions were reportedly sometimes done in public as a warning to others — and relatives of those put to death were often forced to witness the deadly punishments.
The alleged executions under Kim’s reign were mapped out with the help of 638 defectors who cooperated with the report’s authors.
Last June, it was reported that Kim launched a secretive anti-K-pop campaign to impose harsher penalties on citizens caught listening to the popular genre of music from South Korea.
