Since its debut, Squid Game has continued to dominate charts and rule Netflix. It started several trends that the South Korean government is now using in their cultural center activities. However, in countries where it is not allowed, people are becoming creative and clever in smuggling the most popular series to date.
North Korea is under a dictatorship, and hence, their media is regulated and closely watched. A North Korean spokesperson used Squid Game to criticize the South Korean government and structure through CNN, stating that capitalism doesn’t work.
Radio Free Asia presented a North Korean resident insider who said that his countrymen are still enjoying the series, despite the government’s opposition. The series is installed in memory storage devices, USB flash drives, SD cards, and the likes. Then, it is smuggled by means of transport through ships and then distributed inland.
The insider is a resident of Pyongsong City, north of the capital Pyongyang. He said people watch the series in portable media players under their blankets to avoid the strict media governance that can land them in prison.
The insider said that the rich and the youth resonate with the series with how they’re living under a dictatorship. It resonates with their lives and parallels their reality in ways that they can’t imagine.