North Korea executes citizens for watching foreign films, UN report finds

A recent report from the UN Human Rights Office has highlighted that North Korea is increasingly executing people for watching or distributing foreign films and TV shows.

The report, which covers the last ten years, concludes that the human rights situation in North Korea has not improved and has, in many areas, gotten worse. The new laws give it even more control over its citizens’ lives.

A key concern is the increased number of executions. People can now be executed not just for distributing foreign media, but also for simply watching it. This is a part of a larger government effort to control what its citizens see and hear.

The UN report and other human rights organisations have noted that public executions are still being carried out, often for crimes that would not warrant the death penalty in other countries, such as drug offences or watching foreign videos.

Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, referred to the last ten years as a “lost decade” for human rights in North Korea. The report links the country’s harsh human rights records to its increasing isolation from the rest of the world.

He said, “What we have witnessed is a lost decade… And it pains me to say that if DPRK continues on its current trajectory, the population will be subjected to more of the suffering, brutal repression and fear that they endured for so long.”

The report is based on hundreds of interviews with people who have escaped North Korea since 2014. Their stories reveal a pervasive atmosphere of fear, where even small acts of “disloyalty,” like watching foreign content, can lead to severe punishment, including death.

Why did Korea split?

Korea was divided after WWII due to the temporary occupation of the peninsula by the Soviet Union in the North and the United States in the South.