Executions in North Korea surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a sharp rise in cases involving exposure to South Korean dramas and films, according to new data. The increase appears to reflect tighter internal controls by Pyongyang, which sealed its borders during the pandemic.
The Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), a South Korea-based human rights organization focused on North Korea, released a report Tuesday titled "Mapping North Korean Executions Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: 13 Years of Executions Under the Kim Jong-un Regime," based on testimonies from North Korean defectors and reports from outlets with sources inside North Korea.
According to the report, 65 of the 144 executions confirmed during Kim Jong-un's 13-year rule (2011-2024) occurred after the border closure in 2020 due to COVID-19. That marks an approximately 117% jump compared with the same period before the closure. The number of people executed also rose 248%, from 44 to 153.
Executions for exposure to South Korean culture rose sharply during this period. After the border closure, executions for violent crimes such as intentional homicide and manslaughter fell 44.4%, while those for exposure to South Korean culture including K-pop and dramas, as well as religious and superstitious activities, rose 250%.
North Korea has used brutal methods such as public executions to instill fear. "Public executions with mass attendance require even the family members of the executed to witness the event, and the bodies are not returned to the families," the report said. "Public executions targeting specific groups are intended to instill fear in those groups." Firing squads accounted for 96.4% of executions, the dominant method.
Consumption of South Korean content is treated as a serious crime in North Korea. Under the "Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act" enacted in 2020, those caught can face long-term hard labor, and distributors can be sentenced to death. According to an Amnesty International report, Kim Eun-ju (a pseudonym), who defected from North Korea in 2019, testified, "I watched public executions from middle school," adding, "It was education showing what happens if you watch or distribute South Korean media."
