South Korean media, Chosun Ilbo, claimed that North Korea has executed three high-school students for watching and mass distributing South Korean dramas (K-dramas), Mothership reported.

According to Chosun Ilbo, the executions were held in early October. The punishment was supposedly based on the Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Law which criminalizes the act of watching South Korean entertainment content or bringing it into the country, with the maximum penalty being death.

The media outlet attributed its report to multiple North Korean sources which claimed that the three male students watched several South Korean and American dramas in a high school located in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province.

They were caught passing on these dramas to their friends.

According to the North Korean source cited by Chosun Ilbo, the central government usually does not execute minors who commit serious crimes until they become adults, but this case was an exception.

North Korean officials have dispatched spies to infiltrate the local marketplace and report sellers of such content to the police force, the RFA Korean service claimed.

It added that the three high school students were executed by the firing squad.