Last month, North Korean propaganda denounced Round 6, Netflix's latest blockbuster series, as an indictment of the South Korean capitalist system.
It's a little embarrassing, then, that few North Koreans are watching the show, despite the government's best attempts to censor and block cultural exports from the South.
see more
5 science fiction books that conquered the world and the awards
Is 'Barbie' a suitable option for children? The parents…
“Round 6 managed to enter the country on memory storage devices such as USB flash drives and SD cards, which are smuggled in by ships and then they arrive north,” a North Korean resident told Radio Free Asia, a US-funded radio service in North Korea. Asia.
The resident said the series speaks as much to North Korea's (few) wealthy citizens, who are trapped in a life-and-death situation, as well as the country's youth. “They secretly watch the show under their blankets at night on their portable media players,” said the resident.
Round 6
Round 6 became a sensation after it started airing in September. The series focuses on a group of desperately indebted people in South Korea.
They are first tricked into a deadly tournament of children's games. Then many of them volunteer to come back, realizing that gambling may be their only chance to earn the money they need to survive.
It's impossible to know to what extent the show is being watched in North Korea, but the fact that people are watching is remarkable. North Korea is a hermit nation in normal times, but it has become even more isolated in response to the pandemic.
Distrustful of South Korean culture, the North Korean regime tried to make the concert proof that capitalism does not works, with state media last month calling it 'the reality of living in a world where people are judged only by their money.'
