A new report by the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), a human rights NGO based in Seoul, reveals that North Korea dramatically increased its use of the death penalty after closing its borders during the Covid-19 pandemic. The regime exploited its isolation to escalate killings when international scrutiny diminished, according to the report mapping 13 years of executions under leader Kim Jong-un.
Sharp Increase in Executions and Death Sentences
The number of documented cases of executions and death sentences rose by 117% in the nearly five years after North Korea sealed its borders in January 2020, compared with an equal period before the closure. The report also notes that the number of people executed or sentenced to death more than tripled during this time.
Documented Cases and Execution Sites
The report identified 46 execution sites and disclosed coordinates for 40 of them. It documented 144 cases, including 136 execution events involving at least 358 individuals between December 2011, when Kim became leader, and December 2024. Approximately 70% of executions were carried out publicly, with crowds forced to watch.
Data Collection Methods
The findings are based on testimony from 265 North Korean defectors who lived in 51 cities and counties during the 13-year period, as well as information from five North Korea-focused media outlets with sources inside the country.
Exploitation of the Pandemic
North Korea closed its borders to nearly all trade and visitors at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, isolating itself from the outside world. The report claims the regime exploited the pandemic and the lack of international scrutiny to expand the number of crimes carrying the death penalty.
Rise in Cultural and Political Offences
Cases of death sentences or executions linked to the use, introduction, or dissemination of foreign culture and information—including South Korean films, dramas, and music, as well as religious and superstitious practices—surged by 250%, becoming the most common capital offences. Conversely, executions and death sentences for murder, previously the most frequent capital crime, fell by 44%.
These claims echo previous reports citing a rise in punishments for watching South Korean TV shows or listening to K-pop. In February, Amnesty International stated that watching global K-drama hits such as Crash Landing on You and Squid Game, or listening to K-pop bands like BTS, could lead to extreme punishments, including death. Amnesty cited testimony from recent defectors, saying the regime created a climate of fear where consumption of South Korean culture is treated as a serious crime.
Political Executions
The TJWG report also notes that political executions for violating Kim’s orders or criticising the leader, the ruling Workers’ Party, or security services increased sharply, with the number of condemned individuals up by 600%.
Adaptation to International Pressure
According to the report, the North Korean leadership adapted its approach to capital punishment depending on levels of international pressure. For example, executions declined sharply in the years following UN discussions about referring Kim to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Geographic Spread
Executions also spread geographically during the pandemic. Before Covid, documented executions occurred in eight localities, mostly concentrated in Pyongyang and three north-eastern provinces along the Chinese border. After the border closure, they expanded to 19 localities.
Call for International Action
Ethan Hee-seok Shin, a legal analyst at the TJWG, called on the international community to do more to deter and punish this crime against humanity and hold those responsible to account under international criminal law.
In a press release, the TJWG warned that executions might intensify as the regime prepares for a fourth-generation hereditary succession, with Kim’s teenage daughter, understood to be called Ju-ae, being positioned as his heir apparent.
The TJWG plans to present the findings at the World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Paris this summer.
