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K-drama death penalty: North Korea has stepped up punishments for distributing foreign films, TV series and music, with a new United Nations human rights report confirming that people have even been executed for such offences.

The 14-page UN report, released Friday, is based on more than 300 interviews with escapees and victims. It describes how punishments have become harsher over the past decade, with surveillance technology making it nearly impossible for citizens to avoid state scrutiny.

What Happens If You Share Foreign Films In North Korea

According to testimonies and the UN’s findings, North Koreans caught watching or sharing foreign media face severe consequences:

• Public Executions: Escapees report that individuals accused of circulating South Korean dramas and overseas movies have been executed by firing squads in public.
• Lawful Death Penalty: A minimum of six new laws since 2015 permit capital punishment for cultural crimes, such as distributing overseas television programmes.
• Tough Trials: Offenders are prosecuted together with criminals like drug traffickers, with courts similarly handling the offences.
• Fear and Intimidation: Public trials and executions are intended to frighten communities and discourage others from seeking outside information.
• Seizure of Content: Foreign media on devices, DVDs, or memory cards is seized, with further arrests ensuing.
• Family Consequences: Relatives of those arrested might also be interrogated, detained, or subjected to forced labour.

The report stressed that North Korea has become the world’s most restrictive society. “No other population is under such restrictions in today’s world,” the UN concluded, adding that advances in surveillance technology have helped the state enforce near-total control over citizens’ lives. According to the UN Human Rights Office, at least six new laws introduced since 2015 allow the state to impose capital punishment for various offences. Among them is the distribution or viewing of foreign cultural content.

Witnesses told UN investigators that from 2020 onwards, executions for such crimes have increased sharply. Many are carried out by firing squads in public to instil fear across communities. One escapee, who fled in 2023, recalled how three of her friends were executed after being caught with South Korean dramas. “These crimes are treated on the same level as drug trafficking,” she said.

Hope Dashed Under Kim Jong Un

When Kim Jong Un assumed power in 2011, many citizens believed conditions would improve. He had promised economic growth and an end to hunger. Instead, since 2019, after abandoning diplomacy with the West, human rights and living standards have “degraded sharply,” the report said. Escapees testified that during the COVID-19 pandemic, food shortages intensified, leaving many people without enough to eat. Informal markets were shut down, border controls tightened, and those attempting to flee risked being shot.

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The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, warned that without change, North Koreans “will be subjected to more of the suffering, brutal repression and fear that they have endured for so long.”

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The report urges the abolition of political prison camps, an end to the death penalty, and respect for basic freedoms. It also recommends that the case be referred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. But such a move would require approval from the UN Security Council, where China and Russia have consistently blocked measures against Pyongyang.