SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea will close its karaoke bars in an attempt to stem foreign influences, a South Korean group said Wednesday.
Separately, the North's Ministry of People's Security conducted house-to-house overnight inspections near the Chinese border earlier this month to search for cellphones and illegal videos, the Good Friends aid agency said in a newsletter.
The ministry said in a directive last week silencing the karaoke outlets was a "mopping-up operation to prevent the ideological and cultural permeation of anti-socialism," the South Korean group said.
Violators were warned they would face punishment, including deportation to other North Korean regions.
The group did not say how it obtained the information. The number of North Korean karaoke bars was unclear.
Officials at South Korea's top spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, were not immediately available for comment.
South Korea's Dong-A Ilbo newspaper carried a similar report citing the directive.
The newspaper said the North also ordered the shutdown of video-screening rooms, while banning unauthorized computers and fax machines.
The North has cracked down on outside influences before. The government has previously imposed restrictions on cellphones and South Korean pop culture.
Despite the crackdowns, some North Koreans use cellphones through Chinese communication networks. South Korean pop culture appears to be gaining popularity in the North through smuggled discs of South Korean TV dramas and movies, defectors say.
North Korea's state media frequently warn imperialists are trying to poison the country's culture and ideals through a U.S. offensive to topple the communist government. Washington denies the claim.
