North Korea: People punished for not playing crying game

Following the period of mourning for the late leader Kim Jong-Il, North Korean authorities have reportedly begun to punish citizens who did not display enough sadness at his death.

That is according to the Daily NK, an online newspaper based in South Korea, which said that government officials were handing down periods of at least six months in a labor-training camp to anybody who did not participate in the organized gatherings during the mourning period, or who did participate but did not cry and did not seem genuine.In addition, the paper said, the source stated public trials were being held for those who had attempted to leave North Korea during the mourning period for “the Dear Leader” and even for those who used mobile phones to call out.Daily NK also said that the source claimed that those critical of the country's dynastic system, which saw Kim Jong-il replaced by his son Kim Jong-un, were being banished with their families to remote areas.Kim Jong-il died of a heart failure on December 17 at age of 69, leaving the future of one of the world’s most impoverished countries unclear.