North Korean supreme commander Kim Jong-Un described the South Korean music genre K-Pop as a “vicious cancer” that is harmful to his country. He has imposed stricter punishments for those who subscribe to the genre and any other South Korean sources of entertainment, according to US media reports.

The New York Times shed light on the North Korean policies against the K-Pop, the information about which was reportedly sourced from leaked documents from the country. Daily NK, a South Korea-based media organisation first reported the news.

In December last year, Kim Jong-Un imposed new laws in North Korea which entailed a sentence of up to 15 years of hard labour for anyone who was caught in watching or in possession of South Korean entertainment content. Earlier, punishments for such offenses lasted up to five years, reported Fox News.

Earlier this year in February, Kim Jong-Un instructed the people of his country to muzzle and suppress the influence of capitalism in North Korea.

K-Pop, which stands for Korean popular music, was earlier just a part of South Korean culture. However, in the past decade, it has picked up and has become a genre of music loved by millions of people around the people.

BTS, a seven-member band from South Korea, has picked up on the genre and has become one of the most popular groups of music producers in the world.