A 22-year-old North Korean man was publicly executed for watching and sharing South Korean films and music, according to a new report.

The case, which was detailed in the 2024 Report on North Korean Human Rights, released by South Korea's unification ministry, compiles testimonies from over 600 defectors.

The young man from South Hwanghae province was executed for listening to 70 K-Pop songs, watching three films, and distributing them.

This is in violation of a North Korean law adopted in 2020 which bans "reactionary ideology and culture".

Other instances of crackdowns detailed in the report include punishments for brides wearing white dresses, grooms carrying the bride, wearing sunglasses, or drinking alcohol from wine glasses. These are all seen as South Korean customs.

Mobile phones are frequently inspected for contact names' spellings, expressions, and slang terms that are perceived to be of South Korean influence, the report also claims.

While both North and South Korea share a language, subtle differences in expression have emerged since the country was partitioned after the Korean War.

The ban on K-pop is part of a campaign intended to shield North Koreans from the "malign" influence of Western culture.

However, the spread of South Korean culture appears "unstoppable", said a recent defector from North Korea.

"The speed of South Korean culture influencing North Korea is seriously fast. Young people follow and copy South Korean culture, and they really love anything South Korean," a woman in her early 20s who defected from North Korea told reporters at a briefing in Seoul.

"After watching Korean dramas, many young people wonder, 'Why do we have to live like this? … I thought I'd rather die than live in North Korea'."