North Korea has denied it's punishing some citizens for not mourning sincerely enough for their late leader Kim Jong-il.
Many North Koreans were filmed weeping hysterically and throwing themselves on the ground following his death on 17 December.
But South Korean media say there are now report that mourners who failed to cry or participate in the mass outpouring of grief have been sentenced to months in hard labour camps.
The Pyongyang official media agency has denounced the reports, saying the tears shed by North Korean citizens for Kim Jong-il were sincere.
Kim Jong-il presided over a famine in the 1990s and a collapsing economy.
The Un says there are still chronic shortages of food.
