Pyongyang closed its borders in January 2020 to curb the spread of the coronavirus and, in the years that followed, worked to tighten security, as research studies and press articles regularly attest. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) claim that the lockdown has exacerbated human rights violations in North Korea, considered one of the most repressive states in the world.
A report by the South Korean NGO Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) reveals that death sentences and executions more than doubled in the nearly five years following the border closure, compared to the same period before it.
The TJWG collected data from hundreds of North Koreans who fled the country and from various media outlets that maintain networks of sources inside this isolated state, which lacks an independent press. The NGO analyzed 144 known cases of executions and death sentences, involving a total of hundreds of people.
Since the pandemic, authorities have intensified the use of capital punishment for offenses such as consuming South Korean films, TV series, and music, the organization noted.
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Death sentences related to foreign culture, religion, and “superstition” increased by 250% after the borders were closed, according to the document.
Furthermore, the sharp increase in executions for political crimes, such as criticism of leader Kim Jong-un, may suggest that the government “is reacting to growing internal discontent or intensifying state violence to suppress political dissent,” the NGO estimates.
Nearly three-quarters of the executions were carried out in public, with most people being shot to death, the report also indicates.
The North Korean government is also accused of torture, forced labor, and significant restrictions on freedom of expression and movement.
In addition, he is accused of operating four political prison camps where up to 65,000 people are reportedly subjected to forced labor, according to a 2025 report by the Korean Institute for National Unification.
Also last year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that the overall human rights situation in North Korea has not improved and, in many cases, has deteriorated over the past decade. Pyongyang has consistently rejected the allegations, accusing the UN of seeking to harm the country.
