BackWORLD
Executions in North Korea ramped up significantly during pandemic - report
A Seoul-based NGO reports a sharp rise in executions in North Korea during the Covid-19 pandemic, with at least 153 people executed or sentenced to death from January 2020 to December 2024. The offences include religion, superstition and foreign cultural content such as K-dramas and K-pop, and a rare 2024 video shows youths being punished publicly. The report also notes historical peaks and a wide network of execution sites across Kim’s rule.
Why It Matters
The findings highlight ongoing human rights concerns and illustrate how ideological control and cultural bans intersect with the use of the death penalty in North Korea, especially amid leadership transitions.
Timeline
8 Events
2024: rare video of public sentencing for watching K-dramas
2024
A rare video in 2024 showed two teenagers publicly sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for watching and distributing K-dramas in North Korea.
2021: 45 executions
2021
In 2021, at least 45 people were executed, contrasting with the pre-pandemic average of about five per year between 2016 and 2019.
2020: 54 executions amid Covid-19 border closures
2020
In 2020, after Pyongyang closed its borders during the Covid-19 pandemic, at least 54 people were executed.
January 2020–December 2024: period of 153+ executions/death sentences
January 2020
From January 2020 to December 2024, at least 153 people were executed or sentenced to death in North Korea.
2014: UN inquiry and dip in executions
2014
A landmark United Nations inquiry found human rights abuses in North Korea; TJWG notes that executions and death sentences appear to dip following the inquiry.
2014: TJWG established
2014
The Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) was established in Seoul in 2014 by activists and researchers from South Korea, North Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
2013: Executions peak with more than 80 people
2013
The TJWG notes that executions peaked in the early years of Kim's rule, with more than 80 people executed in 2013. Of the 144 documented cases during Kim's rule, 29 involved offences related to religion, superstition and foreign culture, including the banning of K-dramas and K-pop.
2011: 358 executions documented in North Korea (2011–2024 period)
2011
A Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) report states that 358 people were executed between 2011 and 2024 under Kim's rule.