The North Korean government is increasingly implementing the death penalty, including for people caught watching and sharing foreign films and TV dramas, a major UN report has found. The dictatorship, which remains largely cut off from the world, is also subjecting its people to more forced labour while further restricting their freedoms, the report added.
The UN Human Rights Office found that over the past decade the North Korean state had tightened control over all aspects of citizens' lives. No other population is under such restrictions in today's world, it concluded, adding that surveillance had become more pervasive, helped in part by advances in technology.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, indicated that if this situation continued, North Koreans will be subjected to more of the suffering, brutal repression and fear that they have endured for so long.
The report, which is based on more than 300 interviews with people who escaped from North Korea in the past 10 years, found that the death penalty is being used more often. At least six new laws have been introduced since 2015 that allow for the penalty to be handed out. One crime which can now be punished by death is the watching and sharing of foreign media content such as films and TV dramas, as Kim Jong Un works to successfully limit people's access to information.
Escapees told UN researchers that from 2020 onwards there had been more executions for distributing foreign content. They described how these executions are carried out by firing squads in public to instill fear in people and discourage them from breaking the law.
Kang Gyuri, who escaped in 2023, told the BBC that three of her friends were executed after being caught with South Korean content. He was tried along with drug criminals. These crimes are treated the same now, she said, adding that since 2020 people had become more afraid.
Such experiences run counter to what North Korean people had expected from the past decade. When the current leader Kim Jong Un came to power in 2011, many had hoped for improvements in their daily lives, believing his promises of economic growth and better living conditions will come to fruition. However, the report revealed that since Kim turned away from diplomacy with the West in 2019 to pursue a nuclear weapons program, living conditions and human rights in North Korea have significantly deteriorated.
Almost everyone interviewed reported insufficient food, with three meals a day regarded as a luxury. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many reported severe food shortages, leading to deaths from starvation. Additionally, the government has cracked down on informal markets that families depend on for trade, increasing the difficulty of making a living, coupled with tighter border controls that have rendered escape from the country nearly impossible.
The UN reported a surge in forced labour since a decade ago, recruiting people from poor families into shock brigades for dangerous tasks such as construction or mining projects, all glorified as sacrifices to Kim. The report highlights the dangers many workers face, with fatalities common due to hazardous conditions.
Despite documented improvements in the facilities covering North Korean political prisoners, torture and abuse remain prevalent. The UN report urges the international community to address these human rights violations and emphasize the desire for change within North Korea's younger generation.
The UN Human Rights Office found that over the past decade the North Korean state had tightened control over all aspects of citizens' lives. No other population is under such restrictions in today's world, it concluded, adding that surveillance had become more pervasive, helped in part by advances in technology.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, indicated that if this situation continued, North Koreans will be subjected to more of the suffering, brutal repression and fear that they have endured for so long.
The report, which is based on more than 300 interviews with people who escaped from North Korea in the past 10 years, found that the death penalty is being used more often. At least six new laws have been introduced since 2015 that allow for the penalty to be handed out. One crime which can now be punished by death is the watching and sharing of foreign media content such as films and TV dramas, as Kim Jong Un works to successfully limit people's access to information.
Escapees told UN researchers that from 2020 onwards there had been more executions for distributing foreign content. They described how these executions are carried out by firing squads in public to instill fear in people and discourage them from breaking the law.
Kang Gyuri, who escaped in 2023, told the BBC that three of her friends were executed after being caught with South Korean content. He was tried along with drug criminals. These crimes are treated the same now, she said, adding that since 2020 people had become more afraid.
Such experiences run counter to what North Korean people had expected from the past decade. When the current leader Kim Jong Un came to power in 2011, many had hoped for improvements in their daily lives, believing his promises of economic growth and better living conditions will come to fruition. However, the report revealed that since Kim turned away from diplomacy with the West in 2019 to pursue a nuclear weapons program, living conditions and human rights in North Korea have significantly deteriorated.
Almost everyone interviewed reported insufficient food, with three meals a day regarded as a luxury. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many reported severe food shortages, leading to deaths from starvation. Additionally, the government has cracked down on informal markets that families depend on for trade, increasing the difficulty of making a living, coupled with tighter border controls that have rendered escape from the country nearly impossible.
The UN reported a surge in forced labour since a decade ago, recruiting people from poor families into shock brigades for dangerous tasks such as construction or mining projects, all glorified as sacrifices to Kim. The report highlights the dangers many workers face, with fatalities common due to hazardous conditions.
Despite documented improvements in the facilities covering North Korean political prisoners, torture and abuse remain prevalent. The UN report urges the international community to address these human rights violations and emphasize the desire for change within North Korea's younger generation.
