North Korea intensifies repression with executions for watching foreign films, UN reports. The regime under Kim Jong Un enforces fear through public shootings, forced labor, and harsh surveillance, escalating human rights concerns worldwide.
WEBDESK, September 13 — North Korea is executing more people for watching or sharing foreign films and TV dramas, with public firing squads increasingly used to instill fear, a new United Nations report revealed Thursday.
The report by the UN Human Rights Office, based on more than 300 interviews with recent escapees, details how Kim Jong Un’s regime has intensified repression over the past decade, leaving citizens “unable to make their own decisions” in almost every aspect of life.
Since 2015, at least six new laws have expanded the scope of crimes punishable by death. Among them: the viewing or distribution of South Korean dramas and foreign media, which the government equates with drug trafficking and treats with the same level of punishment.
Escapees described chilling scenes of public executions. Kang Gyuri, who fled in 2023, recalled witnessing the trial of her 23-year-old friend sentenced to death for possessing South Korean media. “He was tried alongside drug criminals,” she told researchers.
The report paints a grim picture of daily life under Kim’s rule. Nearly all escapees said food scarcity remains severe, with “three meals a day” considered a luxury. During the Covid-19 pandemic, hunger intensified as markets were restricted and borders sealed.
Forced labor has also surged. Citizens from poor families, including orphans, are drafted into “shock brigades” for mining and construction projects. Deaths from overwork are glorified by the state as sacrifices for Kim.
North Korea’s vast surveillance system, now enhanced by new technologies, monitors and censors nearly every interaction. One defector described it as an effort “to block people’s eyes and ears,” eliminating even the faintest signs of dissent.
The report also confirmed that at least four notorious political prison camps remain operational, with torture, forced disappearances, and deaths from abuse continuing, despite minor improvements in conditions.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned that unless international pressure builds, North Koreans will remain trapped in “suffering, brutal repression, and fear.” The UN is urging referral of the situation to the International Criminal Court, though China and Russia have repeatedly blocked sanctions at the Security Council.
Just last week, Kim stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin at a military parade in Beijing, signaling growing backing from North Korea’s most powerful allies.
“Our reporting shows a clear and strong desire for change, particularly among young people,” Türk said. “But that hope can only survive if the world refuses to look away.”
