A new UN report reveals that North Korea is increasingly imposing the death penalty, including for watching or sharing foreign films and TV dramas, and is also forcing citizens into labour.
The UN Human Rights Office said the state had tightened control over “all aspects of citizens’ lives” in the past decade, with surveillance becoming “more pervasive.”
It concluded as quoted by the BBC: “No other population is under such restrictions in today’s world.”
UN human rights chief Volker Türk warned that if the situation continues, North Koreans “will be subjected to more of the suffering, brutal repression and fear that they have endured for so long.”
Based on 300 interviews with recent escapees, the report found that at least six new laws since 2015 allow executions, including for distributing foreign media.
Escapees said public executions by firing squad have increased since 2020.
Kang Gyuri, who escaped in 2023, said three friends were executed for watching South Korean content. “He was tried along with drug criminals. These crimes are treated the same now,” she said.
Interviewees also said they face worsening hunger and repression since Kim Jong Un abandoned diplomacy in 2019 to focus on weapons development.
“In the early days of Kim Jong Un, we had some hope, but that hope did not last long,” said one woman who fled in 2018. “The government gradually blocked people from making a living independently, and the very act of living became a daily torment.”
The report says the regime is recruiting poor citizens and even orphans into hazardous labour “shock brigades” and still runs at least four political prison camps where torture and deaths from abuse remain common, despite “a slight decrease in violence by guards.”
The UN called for the situation to be referred to the International Criminal Court and urged Pyongyang to abolish prison camps, end executions, and teach citizens about human rights.
“Our reporting shows a clear and strong desire for change, particularly among (North Korea’s) young people,” Türk said.
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