North Korea escalates executions and forced labour for consuming foreign media, UN says
UN report based on over 300 defector interviews reveals increased death sentences, forced labour, and pervasive surveillance in North Korea.
A new UN report reveals that North Korea has stepped up executions, including for watching and distributing foreign films and TV dramas. Based on more than 300 interviews with defectors over the past decade, the findings show the regime has tightened control over all aspects of citizens' lives.
Death Penalty for Consuming Foreign Content
Since 2015, at least six laws have introduced the death penalty for crimes such as sharing South Korean films and series. Defectors report public firing-squad executions designed to instil fear and deter dissent.
Forced Labour and Technology-driven Surveillance
The report notes an increase in forced labour, with poor families and orphans recruited into hazardous "shock brigades" for construction and mining. Improved surveillance technology has made repression more pervasive, restricting independent livelihoods.
Humanitarian Crisis and Political Prison Camps
Almost all interviewees described chronic food shortages, worsened by COVID border closures and crackdowns on informal markets. The regime still operates at least four political prison camps, where torture, malnutrition, and deaths remain common despite slight improvements.
International Response
The UN is calling on the Security Council to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court, but efforts are blocked by China and Russia. Last week, Kim Jong Un joined Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin at a Beijing military parade, signalling tacit acceptance of North Korea's nuclear programme. The UN also urges the regime to abolish camps, end the death penalty, and teach human rights.
North Koreans face heightened repression as the regime intensifies surveillance, expands the death penalty for watching foreign media, and increases forced labour, according to UN findings.
This topic was reported by BBC.
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