North Korea executes seven people for watching South Korean videos, says rights group

Study claims Pyongyang carrying out killings behind closed doors to reduce international backlash

Fans of South Korean K-pop boy band NCT gather at the entrance of a metro station to swap collectable cards in Seoul (AFP via Getty Images)

Kim Jong-un has presided over the public execution of seven people accused of watching or distributing South Korean videos, a rights group has said.

The Seoul-based Transitional Justice Working Group, which conducted interviews with 683 North Korean defectors over a six-year period, documented 27 executions in total, most by firing squad, on charges that also related to drugs, prostitution and human trafficking.

It follows claims in May 2021 by South Korea-based dissident-run online newspaper Daily NK that the North Korean authorities had publicly executed a man for illegally selling CDs and USBs filled with South Korean films and music videos.

Of the seven documented cases of individuals being charged with watching or distributing South Korean media, six took place in Hyesan, Ryanggang province between 2012 and 2014 and one in Chongjin City, North Hamgyong province, in 2015, the report said.

The study, titled Mapping Killings under Kim Jong Un: North Korea's Response to International Pressure, also found that Pyongyang had started to carry out capital punishment in private in response to greater international scrutiny of human rights abuses, in order to stop information filtering out.

“Our findings suggest that the Kim Jong Un regime is paying more attention to human rights issues due to increased international scrutiny,” said Park Ah-yeong, the lead author of the report, which was published on Wednesday.

“This does not mean the human rights situation there is improving - state-led killings continue to take place in ways that may not be as publicly visible as before.”

North Korea has denied the existence of prison camps and accused Western nations of using criticism of human rights as part of a hostile policy towards it.

In the past, North Korea has held executions in villages and prison camps where crowds could gather, as a public warning, the group said.

But it had increasingly avoided executions in heavily populated residential areas, where authorities had difficulty keeping track of those attending.

It had also stopped holding executions near its borders and at facilities that can be easily monitored by satellites, the group said.

“This change in location may provide an explanation of how the state's action is being influenced by the scrutiny of the international community,” the group said.

Additional reporting by Reuters