Capital punishment is a legal penalty in North Korea. It is used for many offences, such as grand theft, murder, rape, drug smuggling, treason, espionage, political dissent, defection, piracy, consumption of media not approved by the government and proselytizing religious beliefs that contradict the practiced Juche ideology.[1] Owing to the secrecy of the North Korean government, working knowledge of the topic depends heavily on anonymous sources, accounts of defectors (both relatives of victims, and former members of the government) and reports by Radio Free Asia, a United States government-funded news service that operates in East Asia.[1] The country allegedly carries out public executions, which, if true, makes North Korea one of the last four countries that still performs public executions, the other three being Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Somalia, but this has been disputed by some defector accounts.[2]
The South-Korean-based Database Center for North Korean Human Rights has collected unverified testimony on 1,193 historic executions in North Korea through 2009.[3]Amnesty International reported that there were 105 executions between 2007 and 2012.[4] The Foreign Policy periodical estimated there were 60 executions in 2010.[5] In October 2001, the North Korean government told the UN Human Rights Committee that "only 13" executions had occurred since 1998 and that no public execution had occurred since 1992.[1]
On December 13, 2013, North Korean state media announced the execution of Jang Sung-taek, the uncle by marriage of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un.[6] The South Korean National Intelligence Service believes that two of Kim Jong Un's closest aides, Lee Yong-ha and Jang Soo-keel, were executed in mid-November.[7]
North Korea was alleged to have resumed public executions in October 2007 after they had declined in the years following 2000 amidst international criticism. Prominent supposedly executed criminals include officials convicted of drug trafficking and embezzlement. Common criminals convicted of crimes such as murder, robbery, rape, drug dealing, smuggling, piracy, vandalism, etc. have also been reported to be executed, mostly by firing squad. The country does not publicly release national crime statistics or reports on the levels of crimes.[42]As of 2012[update], North Korea is allegedly one of four countries carrying out executions in public, the other three being Iran, Saudi Arabia and Somalia.[2] However, according to defectors interviewed by The Diplomat in 2014, the practice of such activities had not occurred, at least in Hyesan since 2000.[43]
In October 2007, a South Pyongan province factory chief convicted of making international phone calls from 13 phones he installed in his factory basement was supposedly executed by firing squad in front of a crowd of 150,000 people in a stadium, according to an unverified report from a South Korean aid agency called Good Friends.[5][44] Good Friends also reported that six were killed in the rush as spectators left. In another unverified instance, 15 people were allegedly publicly executed for crossing the border into China.[45]
A U.N. General Assembly committee has adopted a draft resolution, co-sponsored by more than 50 countries, expressing "very serious concern" at reports of widespread human rights violations in North Korea, including public executions. North Korea has condemned the draft, saying it is inaccurate and biased. The report was sent to the then 192-member General Assembly for a final vote.[46]
In 2011, two people were allegedly executed in front of 500 spectators for handling propaganda leaflets floated across the border from South Korea, reportedly as part of an unverified campaign by former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to tighten ideological control as he groomed his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, as the eventual successor.[47]
In June 2019, a South Korean NGO the Transitional Justice Working Group released an unverified report “Mapping the Fate of the Dead” that suggested 318 sites in North Korea supposedly used by the government for public executions.[48] According to the NGO, public executions have taken place near rivers, fields, markets, schools, and sports grounds. The report alleges that family members and children of those sentenced to death were forced to watch their executions.[49]
Capital punishment in prison camps
Amnesty International has alleged that torture and executions are widespread in political prisons in North Korea.[50] Unverified testimonies describe secret and public executions in North Korean prisons by firing squad, decapitation or by hanging.[51] Executions are allegedly used as a means of deterrence, often accompanied by torture.[52]
↑ 悲運の女優 禹仁姫（ウ・インヒ）の顔写真 日本で相次いで見つかる[Photos of the unfortunate actress Woo In-hee are found one after another in Japan]. KoreaWorldTimes (in Japanese). October 15, 2020. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
↑ "North Korea resumes public executions". A non-profit organization work towards realization of Human rights and protects crime against humanity. English-language version of Pravda. November 26, 2007. Archived from the original on July 16, 2009. Retrieved December 19, 2007.
↑ "Political Prison Camps in North Korea Today"(PDF), Database Center for North Korean Human Rights, 2.1.2 Public and Secret Executions (pp. 455–480), July 15, 2011, archived from the original(PDF) on February 28, 2013, retrieved December 13, 2013
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu (Amnok) and Tumen rivers, and South Korea to the south at the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The country's western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eastern border is defined by the Sea of Japan. North Korea, like its southern counterpart, claims to be the sole legitimate government of the entire peninsula and adjacent islands. Pyongyang is the capital and largest city.
North Korea has diplomatic relations with 160 states. The country's foreign relations have been dominated by its conflict with South Korea and its historical ties to the Soviet Union. Both the government of North Korea and the government of South Korea claim to be the sole legitimate government of the whole of Korea. The de facto end of the Korean War left North Korea in a military confrontation with South Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
Kim Jong Il was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea. He led North Korea from the death of his father Kim Il Sung in 1994 until his death in 2011, when he was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Un. Afterwards, Kim Jong Il was declared Eternal General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).
The human rights record of North Korea is often considered to be the worst in the world and has been globally condemned, with the United Nations and groups such as Human Rights Watch having condemned it. Amnesty International considers North Korea to have no contemporary parallel with respect to violations of liberty.
Yodok concentration camp was a kwalliso in North Korea. The official name was Kwan-li-so No. 15. The camp was used to segregate those seen as enemies of the state, punish them for political misdemeanors, and put them to hard labour. It was closed down in 2014.
In the North Korean government, the Cabinet is the administrative and executive body. The North Korean government consists of three branches: administrative, legislative, and judicial. However, they are not independent of each other, but all branches are under the exclusive political leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).
Kim Jong Un is a North Korean politician who has been supreme leader of North Korea since December 2011 and the general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim Jong Il, who was the second supreme leader of North Korea, and a grandson of Kim Il Sung, the founder and first supreme leader of the country.
North Korea ranks among some of the most extreme censorship in the world, with the government able to take strict control over communications. North Korea sits at one of the lowest places of Reporters Without Borders' 2024 Press Freedom Index, ranking 177 out of the 180 countries investigated.
Jang Song-thaek was a North Korean politician. He was married to Kim Kyong-hui, the only daughter of North Korean premier Kim Il Sung and his first wife Kim Jong-suk, and only sister of North Korean general secretary Kim Jong Il. He was therefore the uncle of the current leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un.
The Ministry of State Security of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the secret police agency of North Korea. It is an autonomous agency of the North Korean government reporting directly to the Supreme Leader. In addition to its internal security duties, it is involved in the operation of North Korea's concentration camps, prisons and various other hidden activities. The agency is reputed to be one of the most brutal secret police forces in the world, and has been involved in numerous human rights abuses.
Daily NK is an online newspaper based in Seoul, South Korea, where it reports on various aspects of North Korean society from information obtained from inside and outside of North Korea via a network of informants. North Korea is ranked 177 out of 180 in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index, which is compiled by Reporters Without Borders.
Kim Kyong-hui is the aunt of current North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un. She is the daughter of the founding North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and the sister of the late leader Kim Jong Il. She currently serves as Secretary for Organization of the Workers' Party of Korea. An important member of Kim Jong Il's inner circle of trusted friends and advisors, she was director of the WPK Light Industry Department from 1988 to 2012. She was married to Jang Song-thaek, who was executed in December 2013 in Pyongyang, after being charged with treason and corruption.
The International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK) was formed on September 8, 2011. It comprises Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Federation for Human Rights and has support from over 40 organizations worldwide. North Korean human rights issues with which the ICNK deals include North Korea’s political prison camp system and the repatriation and punishment of North Korean refugees.
Choe Ryong-hae is a North Korean politician and military officer who currently serves as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly and First Vice President of the State Affairs Commission, holding both positions since April 2019. Due to holding the first office, he was considered the head of state of North Korea before the country's constitution was amended to transfer this position to the President of the State Affairs Commission, Kim Jong Un. He is also a member of the Presidium of the Politburo and Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). He also served as Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un's military second-in-command, currently being third top-ranking official in North Korea after Kim Jong Un and premier Kim Tok-hun.
Hyon Song-wol is a North Korean singer, band leader, and politician. She is the leader of the Moranbong Band and of the Samjiyon Orchestra. She was formerly a featured vocalist for the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble in the early 2000s, a pop group which found fame in North Korea in the late 1980s and 1990s. She has been a member in the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea since 2017.
The Unhasu Orchestra was a musical group based in Pyongyang, North Korea. It performed primarily with Western instruments, sometimes performing alongside traditional Korean soloists. The orchestra has a concert hall, the Unhasu Theater in Pyongyang, dedicated for its use. Ri Sol-ju, the wife of Kim Jong-un, was a singer in this group. According to ex-North Korean senior government official Thae Yong-ho, the orchestra was disbanded on the 12th August 2013.
The Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights is a registered NGO based in Seoul, South Korea. The organization conducts research on and raises public awareness about North Korea, human rights in North Korea, and Korean unification. It also engages in movement building activities and has helped launch other organizations, most notably the Daily NK. Their stated goal is to "help bring about democracy and respect for human rights in North Korea."
Kim Yo Jong is a North Korean politician and diplomat, and sister of Kim Jong Un. She is the Deputy Department Director of the Publicity and Information Department of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Since September 2021, she has been a member of State Affairs Commission of North Korea.
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The persecution of Christians in North Korea is an ongoing and systematic human rights violation in North Korea. According to multiple resolutions which have been passed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the North Korean government considers religious activities political crimes, because they could challenge the personality cult of Kim Il Sung and his family. The Workers' Party of Korea also considers religion a tool of American imperialism and the North Korean state uses this argument to justify its activities.
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