North Korea has intensified its crackdown on freedoms, with new findings from the United Nations Human Rights Office revealing that people are being executed for sharing foreign TV dramas and films, including South Korean K-dramas. The report highlights that the regime has increasingly used the death penalty for distributing outside media, silencing even the smallest forms of dissent.
James Heenan, head of the UN Human Rights Office for North Korea, explained in Geneva that executions for both political and so-called “ordinary” crimes have risen since the COVID-19 period. One escapee described how authorities “blocked the people’s eyes and ears,” ensuring citizens remain cut off from the outside world.
The report also revealed that North Korea has expanded its surveillance systems, using new technology to monitor citizens more closely than ever before. Based on interviews with over 300 witnesses and escapees, investigators concluded that “no other population is under such restrictions in today’s world.”
Forced labor remains widespread, with the report noting that children are being sent to dangerous industries like coal mining and construction. Families with money often bribe officials to protect their children, leaving poorer families to bear the burden. Last year, the UN warned that such forced labor may amount to slavery and could rise to crimes against humanity.
This review builds on a landmark 2014 UN investigation that exposed mass human rights abuses, including executions, torture, rape, starvation, and the detention of around 120,000 people in prison camps. Since then, North Korea has introduced new laws that further tighten control and provide legal cover for repressive measures.
UN rights chief Volker Turk issued a warning, stating that if North Korea continues down this path, its people will face “more suffering, brutal repression, and fear.” For decades, the regime has maintained power by criminalizing dissent, banning outside information, and ruling through fear.
