Squid Game Executions.

Why is Squid Game called Squid Game? When no apparent squid, real or otherwise, is featured. What I have seen of the game is just a load of hapless South Koreans being shot at by a giant doll. Those who can get through win a huge sum of money. Of course, it is just a concept, a drama, where poor people are encouraged to take part to win this money. Though fictional, the concept of people taking part in a game where most of them will die to win a large amount of money for entertainment is morally questionable to me. However, like Traitors in the UK, also with a morally questionable agenda, the show is watched by millions around the world.

If people want to watch Squid Game, be my guest. I wouldn't watch it for the reasons given, but everyone's free to watch what they want to watch as long as it doesn't bring harm to themselves or others.

However, if you watch Squid Game in North Korea or any other foreign programme, you can face harsh punishment or even death. Particularly as Squid Game is a South Korean programme. Other South Korean programmes that can get you into trouble in North Korea are watching Crash Landing on You and Descendants of the Sun. I have never heard of any of these other programmes, and obviously, their gravitas has not taken off in the West as Squid Game has. However, if you are South Korean or of South Korean descent, you may/will be aware of these other shows.

Amnesty International interviewed 25 escapees from North Korea, presumably in South Korea. They described what harshness awaits those who dare watch the above programmes. The harshness of punishment falls mainly on poorer North Koreans (as per usual). However, richer North Koreans can apparently bribe corrupt officials in the regime of Kim Jong-un so they do not face a penalty. The worst penalty is death. Those who have perished have been adults. But according to the interviewees, the executions have included high school students. That shows the utter inhumanity and evil of this regime. I condemn shows such as Squid Game for moral reasons; that said, I wouldn't want folk who view it dead.

Communism is supposedly about lifting the poorest upwards so that everyone is equal. Obviously, Kim Jong-un didn't read Karl Marx too well. The fact that government officials are quite willing to allow themselves to be bribed by richer North Koreans shows that cash is king even in a so-called Communist country.

Let's face it, though, North Korea is strapped for cash. Much of their budget goes on weapons production, such as an atomic capability and the missiles to carry them. The rich amongst the regime will be cotton wooled from this and the sanctions imposed by the West. If you are poor in North Korea, you are poor. Whether you are living cheek by jowl in a cramped apartment block in Pyongyang or running a farm in the country. North Korea depends on aid from outside and has suffered famines in the past.

The North Korean model for leadership is strange for a so-called Communist country. The leadership model of the country acts like the Communist version of a monarchy. Since the inception of the People's Republic of North Korea, the country has been ruled by the same family. When Kim steps down or dies in office, a member of the family will inherit the leadership. But until that happens, Kim looks very secure as the so- called "Dear Leader" of the country.

Trump right now has sent a battle fleet to oppose Iran for its alleged nuclear weapon programme and ballistic missile weapons. North Korea has ballistic missiles and an atomic weapons capability, so why hasn't Trump done the same with them? The answer given is that North Korea has an atomic weapons capability as an insurance policy against a US attack. And it appears to be working, and that many say is where Iran has gone wrong.