"I didn't receive legal punishment because we had connections," he told Amnesty International in an interview.
Joonsik said three of his sisters’ high school friends were given multi-year labor camp sentences in the late 2010s after being caught watching South Korean dramas, a punishment he said reflected their families’ inability to pay bribes.
"The authorities criminalize access to information in violation of international law, then allow officials to profit off those fearing punishment. This is repression layered with corruption, and it most devastates those without wealth or connections," said Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International's deputy regional director.
"This government's fear of information has effectively placed the entire population in an ideological cage, suffocating their access to the views and thoughts of other human beings," she added. "People who strive to learn more about the world outside North Korea, or seek simple entertainment from overseas, face the harshest of punishments."
Several defectors told the human rights organization that they were required to witness public executions while still in school, describing the practice as a form of state-mandated indoctrination designed to deter exposure to foreign culture.
"When we were 16, 17, in middle school, they took us to executions and showed us everything," said Kim Eunju, 40. "People were executed for watching or distributing South Korean media. It's ideological education: if you watch, this happens to you too."