A sensational report that North Korea executed over 30 middle school students for watching South Korean dramas should be treated with skepticism, but its dubious sourcing ought not to distract from the reality of Kim Jong Un’s sweeping crackdowns on outside information.

The South Korean outlet TV Chosun reported last week that DPRK authorities carried out the mass execution of schoolchildren in early July after they watched the contents of USB flash drives sent over by balloon by ROK activists.

But the report only cited a single anonymous source — a hallmark of past misinformation about North Korea — and