UN: North Korea executes citizens for watching foreign films, expands repressive control

A new report from the United Nations has exposed a dramatic increase in state violence and repression in North Korea, including public executions for sharing or viewing foreign media such as films and television dramas. The report also details widespread forced labor and worsening humanitarian conditions under Kim Jong Un’s regime.

Published by the UN Human Rights Office and based on interviews with 300 recent escapees, the report paints a harrowing picture of life inside one of the world’s most closed-off countries. It finds that in recent years, North Korea has intensified surveillance, cracked down on personal freedoms, and passed laws permitting the death penalty for seemingly minor offenses.

“No other population is under such restrictions in today’s world,” the report concluded, as quoted by the BBC.

The study identifies at least six laws enacted since 2015 that allow for execution, including for distributing or consuming foreign media—especially South Korean entertainment. According to escapees, public executions by firing squad have become more common since 2020.

Kang Gyuri, who fled North Korea in 2023, recalled a brutal incident involving her friends. “He was tried along with drug criminals. These crimes are treated the same now,” she said, referring to three friends who were executed for watching South Korean content.

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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned that unless the global community takes action, the North Korean people will continue to suffer under one of the most oppressive regimes in modern history. “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,” he said.

The report also highlights that since the collapse of diplomatic talks in 2019, Kim Jong Un has intensified his focus on weapons development, leaving citizens in worsening poverty and hunger. One woman, who escaped in 2018, described how living became unbearable. “In the early days of Kim Jong Un, we had some hope, but that hope did not last long. The government gradually blocked people from making a living independently, and the very act of living became a daily torment,” she said.

The UN also documented the regime’s recruitment of impoverished citizens—including orphans—into dangerous forced labor groups known as “shock brigades.” It confirmed the ongoing operation of at least four political prison camps, where torture, abuse, and deaths remain common, despite what the report describes as a “slight decrease in violence by guards.”

In light of the findings, the UN has called for North Korea’s human rights violations to be referred to the International Criminal Court. It also urged Pyongyang to shut down its prison camps, end capital punishment, and implement human rights education for its citizens.

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