North Korea sharply increased executions during pandemic lockdown, rights group says

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the completion of a first-stage modernization project at the Ryongsong Machine Complex in North Korea Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

SEOUL -- North Korea sharply raised the number of executions it conducted after shutting its borders during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the largest share linked to violations of bans on foreign culture and religion, a Seoul-based civic group said on Monday.

A report by the Transitional Justice Working Group documented 60 execution cases in which 148 people were put to death between 2020 and 2024, up from 41 executions over the previous five years.

The findings were based on interviews with 880 North Korean defectors living in South Korea and the group used satellite images to map execution sites. It cautioned, however, that the report should not be considered as definitive.

The report said breaches of restrictions on foreign culture and religion, including watching South Korean dramas and movies, accounted for the largest portion of the executions.

Before the pandemic closures, murder was the most frequent reason for an execution.

The number of executions for political crimes also rose to 28 from four in the corresponding period, the report said, as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sought to crack down on dissent during the pandemic lockdowns.

Executions tied to cultural violations also occurred in inland areas of the country, not only in border regions with China, suggesting South Korean media content had spread throughout the country, said Hubert Lee, the group’s executive director.

North Korea has slowly started reopening the country and approved in 2023 the return of its citizens who had been abroad and recently resumed passenger train service with China.

Still, the number of North Korean defectors, an indicator of North Korea’s openness to the outside world, remained low at 223 in 2025, compared to 1,275 in 2015, according to South Korean government data.

The anticipated succession of Kim’s daughter, known as Ju Ae, could also increase executions, said Lee.

“The number of executions may surge when the time for Ju Ae to succeed is imminent, to remove the inner circle of her father and appoint her people,” said Lee.

North Korean embassies in Singapore and London and Pyongyang’s permanent U.N. mission did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the findings of the report.

(Reporting by Heejin Kim; Editing by Ed Davies)