During the covid pandemic, North Korea significantly increased the number of executions and death sentences, especially in connection with foreign culture, such as South Korean series or K-pop, and for political crimes. This follows from a report published on Tuesday, reports TASR according to the AFP agency.
- During the covid pandemic, North Korea significantly increased the number of executions.
- Watching foreign culture is punishable by death in North Korea.
- After the borders were closed, the number of executions more than doubled.
- They carry out most of the executions in public by shooting in various open places.
- They hold approximately 65,000 people in four camps for political prisoners.
The number of executions doubled
Pyongyang closed its borders in January 2020 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Activists say human rights abuses have worsened since then in North Korea, whose government is considered one of the most repressive in the world.
The number of executions and death sentences in the DPRK has more than doubled in the five years since the border was closed compared to the same period before, according to a new report by the human rights NGO Transitional Justice Working Group.
The organization has obtained data from hundreds of DPRK refugees and several media outlets that have networks of their sources in the isolated country, where there is no independent media and minimal foreign presence.
Executions by firing squad in public
The report analyzes 144 known cases of executions and capital punishment involving hundreds of people in total. According to her, three quarters of the executions were carried out in public and mostly by shooting. They took place in dozens of places, including several locations in Pyongyang, as well as in various places outside of them, such as former airports, riverbanks, fields and mine waste dumps.
The North Korean government is accused of violating human rights, such as torture, forced labor, or severe restrictions on freedom of expression and movement. It reportedly has four political prison camps where 65,000 people are subjected to hard labor, according to a 2025 report by the Korea Institute for National Unification.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated last year that the overall human rights situation in the DPRK has not changed in the last decade and in many cases has worsened. North Korea denies the allegations and accuses the UN of politicizing the human rights situation in order to weaken its regime.
