In light of these draconian restrictions imposed by the UK and Australia upon people in the interest of "protecting children", I felt it might be interesting to talk about how the #
DPRK protects children.
You find all these articles proclaiming everything from "rape is rampant in the DPRK" but "porn possession is punishable by death" and whatever other contradictory nonsense without a shred of proof (then turning around and saying, actually, violent crime is extremely rare in the DPRK — but only because punishments for it are so harsh, because that's how criminology works, don't look that up). However, if you actually read the DPRK's
criminal code, pornography isn't in there at all. It is in China's, and other countries that prohibit porn, but not the DPRK.
And it stands to reason: Kim Jong-il was a big film buff, which definitely included some pornography, and contrary to popular belief, you absolutely can just walk into an app shop (yes, apps are sold in physical stores) in the DPRK and buy western films. I recall an anecdote from a recent tourist who got to talk with a young North Korean woman on the train, and asked if if she'd ever seen Shrek. Her English wasn't wonderful, but she told him to wait when the bus stopped, dashed out and into an app shop, and then dashed back, to show him that Shrek was now on her phone.
The difference, and the reason that porn doesn't need to be punishable by law, is because you'll have a rough time finding it. All media that you can purchase easily is media that is approved and sold by the state. The national intranet, too, is publicly owned.
That having been said, there are more direct ways that the DPRK protects children, which the UK and Australia do not do and probably would not even consider: Article 258 makes it illegal to neglect, abuse, or otherwise fail to protect and care for your children, elderly, or disabled family members (punishable by a sentence of labour of less than one year). Article 181 makes it illegal to compel a minor to work (similar sentencing).
In the DPRK, the principle role of children is to become educated, and it is the principle role of adults to form a society that is conducive to that education. If a child, therefore, gets their hands on pornography, it is not the fault of the child, but the fault of whoever was meant to be protecting them from it.
(Incidentally, the punishment for rape is between 5-10 years of labour at minimum, beaten out only by murder, which is always over 10 years, and crimes around terrorism and conspiracy against the state, which are the only ones which could land you the death penalty within regular criminal law.)
