UN: Sharing Foreign Movies, TV Shows Leads to Executions in North Korea

A new UN report has revealed that North Korea is increasingly resorting to the death penalty, including for offenses such as watching or sharing foreign films and TV dramas, while also forcing citizens into hard labor.

According to the UN Human Rights Office, the regime has tightened control over “all aspects of citizens’ lives” in the past decade, with surveillance becoming “more pervasive.” The report concluded, as quoted by the BBC: “No other population is under such restrictions in today’s world.”

UN human rights chief Volker Türk warned that unless conditions change, North Koreans “will be subjected to more of the suffering, brutal repression and fear that they have endured for so long.”

Based on 300 interviews with recent escapees, the report found that at least six laws enacted since 2015 permit executions for acts such as distributing foreign media. Witnesses said public executions by firing squad have risen since 2020.

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

Escapees also described worsening hunger and repression since Kim Jong Un abandoned diplomacy in 2019 to focus on weapons development. “In the early days of Kim Jong Un, we had some hope, but that hope did not last long,” said a woman who escaped in 2018. “The government gradually blocked people from making a living independently, and the very act of living became a daily torment.”

The report further detailed the regime’s use of “shock brigades,” recruiting poor citizens and even orphans into dangerous labor. It also confirmed that at least four political prison camps remain in operation, where torture and deaths from abuse are common, despite a reported “slight decrease in violence by guards.”

The UN urged that the situation be referred to the International Criminal Court, calling on Pyongyang to abolish prison camps, end executions, and educate citizens about human rights.

“Our reporting shows a clear and strong desire for change, particularly among North Korea’s young people,” Türk said.