A group of North Korean teenagers are under investigation after getting caught listening and dancing to a BTS song, some news outlets have reported.

A local branch of North Korea's Workers' Party and state security alerted the students that they were listening to BTS, and they are being probed for engaging in "reactionary ideology and culture." Under a law passed by North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un in December 2020, anyone caught owning or accessing South Korean media will be sentenced to 5 to 15 years in a labor camp. Those who are caught speaking, writing, or performing in a "South Korean way" could face a two-year prison sentence.

Despite the harsher penalties for absorbing South Korean media, an informant informed Seoul Pyongyang News that BTS's songs are "explosively popular" among North Korean youngsters, and that BTS has led the Billboard charts numerous times. Young North Koreans appreciate BTS's songs because of their content about self-love, according to the source. BTS' message about "self-care for the individual" has surprised several North Koreans who have been trained to be loyal to the state.

This isn't the first time North Koreans have been detained because of the music of a South Korean boy band. Three North Korean soldiers were jailed in August 2020 for listening to and dancing to BTS's "Blood, Sweat, and Tears."