Four young adults face Kim Jong-un's labour camps for 'talking like South Koreans'

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could send four young adults to labour camps for "talking like South Koreans" in a harsh crackdown.

The bizarre rule saw the group of youths arrested in the city of Chongjin after they were overheard reenacting South Korean movies. The group, all aged in their twenties, had been caught mimicking lines from the films. Local residents are said to have alerted the authorities about the offensive speech, which is deemed inappropriate because of its origins.

Chongjin's Ministry of State Security have been questioning the group, who await to find out whether their conversation could lead to spending time in harsh labour camps.

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According to reports, the offence could see them get sentenced for one year. It comes as the country has increasingly clamped down on what Kim Jong-un views as South Korean influences. The leader earlier branded K-pop as a "vicious cancer".

In 2020, a law was imposed to stop people from distributing programmes and stressed that people would receive the death penalty. Anyone caught watching South Korean programmes were warned they could face up to 15 years in prison.

One year after the militant announcement, another law was passed to stop young people from speaking or writing 'in odd speech patterns that are not our own.' The rule was placed under Article 41 in theNorth Korea's Youth Education Guarantee Act.

Despite the bans, the apparent slang is said to be spreading quickly among young people.

One source told publication Daily NK: "These days, young people are careful to avoid South Korean speech during official activities because they know about the crackdowns, but when they’re with friends, they use it without hesitation—mimicking lines from South Korean movies and shows. They copy the patterns quite naturally, probably because they’ve grown up watching this content.”