North Korea has executed thousands of people for activities like sharing foreign films or TV dramas, according to the United Nations' latest report on the country.
The UN human rights office has said that tech-enabled state repression under the Kim dynasty, which governed with brute power for more than seventy years, had further descended into “suffering, repression, and increased fear”.
The report, which is based on more than 300 witnesses and victims, highlights the absolute levels of “oppression that North Korea’s population has to undergo in the country.”
The report also pointed out that Kim was not governing the country but, rather, controlling the people of North Korea. “They have strengthened their eyes and ears with constant crackdowns. This sort of control over the people is aimed at eliminating even the smallest signs of dissatisfaction or complaint,” said one of the testimonies quoted in the report.
Meanwhile, James Heenan, head of the UN Human Rights Office for North Korea, told a Geneva briefing that the number of executions for both normal and political crimes had increased since COVID-era restrictions.
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He said, while the number of the exact executions remains unclear, it is believed that the numbers are in the thousands.'
The children in North Korea, who should be in the schools as per international laws, have been forced to enter the country’s labour force, including so-called “shock brigades” for tough sectors such as coal mining and construction.
These are children from lower levels of society, because they are unable to bribe their way out of the forced labour,” he said. In 2024, the United Nations indicated that forced labour in some cases amounts to slavery, making it a crime against humanity.
The review of the North Korean society came after more than a decade, which includes testimonies and documents of executions, rapes, gender-based violence, starvation and detention of 80,000 and 120,000 people in prison camps.
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