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North Korea has ramped up public executions to instill fear, maximize control: NGO report

Published: 28 Apr. 2026, 16:32 Updated: 28 Apr. 2026, 16:52

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversees a test launch of the new Hwasong-18 solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile on July 12, 2023, where an object believed to be a foldable smartphone, shown inside the red circle, was spotted, in this image provided by the Korea Central News Agency. [YONHAP]

Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung University of Politics trains North Korea's leading military cadres. Though the top educational institution nurtures the Korean People's Army (KPA)'s political elite, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has used it for a different purpose — as a stage to instill fear and enforce obedience.

In the fall of 2013, several senior officials, including cabinet members and city public security chiefs, were executed by firing squad there, according to sources in North Korea. Less than two years after he had taken power, Kim Jong-un chose Kim Il Sung University of Politics as the venue to execute officials caught watching South Korean videos and pornography, thereby setting an example for future political cadres.

The North Korean leader has used the national capital, Pyongyang, as a public execution venue throughout his reign — as a stage to maximize rule through fear, according to an international human rights group report released on Tuesday.

Based on interviews with 880 North Korean defectors over the past 10 years and reports from North Korea-focused media, at least 144 executions were carried out in North Korea during the 13 years of Kim Jong-un’s rule from December 2011 to December 2024, said the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), a nongovernmental human rights documentation and advocacy organization.

At least 358 people were executed, according to the organization.

Public executions particularly surged in the early years of Kim’s rule, and when North Korea's borders were slammed shut, ostensibly to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the report said.

Kim Jong-un, second from left, and his daughter Kim Ju-ae, left, watch North Korea's Hwaseong-11 Ra surface-to-surface ballistic missile on April 19, in this photo released by North's official Rodong Sinmun the following day. [NEWS1]

In most cases, death sentences were handed down and carried out on-site. An average of 2.6 people were executed at a time.

The TJWG identified specific locations, or at least the cities or counties, for 111 of the 144 public executions.

The place where public executions occurred most frequently was Hyesan in Ryanggang Province, a region bordering China. A total of 23 cases, or 20.7 percent, were carried out in this area, which appears to be related to frequent defections and smuggling activities. A similarly high number of public executions took place in Pyongyang, with 22 cases, or 19.8 percent.

However, the nature of the executions in Pyongyang was different.

The TJWG classified 129 of the 144 executions in North Korea into four categories: public executions where the masses are mobilized to observe, public executions where specific groups are targeted to observe, nonpublic executions and extrajudicial summary executions carried out without even a perfunctory trial.

The 12 execution sites within Pyongyang and in the adjacent areas by execution type [TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE WORKING GROUP]

In Pyongyang, executions tended to target specific groups. In these cases, only people with similar occupations, affiliated institutions, ranks or statuses were mobilized to witness the execution.

Among the 129 executions that could be categorized, 28 cases, 21.7 percent, targeted specific groups, and nine out of the 13 identified execution sites were located in or near Pyongyang.

Such executions aim "to maximize the terror for members of the targeted groups and to reinforce the targeted institution’s discipline and obedience of its members,” the TJWG said.

Executions carried out at Kim Il Sung University of Politics are an iconic example. Those sentenced to death are often senior party or military officials or their family members.

Overall, there were 12 execution sites in Pyongyang and its vicinity. All were located within a radius of 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, which is Kim Jong-un’s office.

Five were clustered within a 10-kilometer radius to the north of the office. Kim Il Sung University of Politics is 8 kilometers from Kim Jong-un’s office. The nearby Kim Jong-il Social Security University was also used as an execution site.

Another notable point is that execution sites within Pyongyang changed somewhat before and after Covid-19.

Before the border closure, North Korea carried out executions at locations such as Kim Jong-il People's Security University (currently changed to Kim Jong-il Social Security University), Kim Il Sung University of Politics and Kang Kon Military Academy. After the border was closed, execution sites within Pyongyang included the outdoor field of the Ministry of State Security Bureau 10’s Detection Department and a firing range of an infantry brigade under the Supreme Guard Command. This shift can be interpreted as an effort to avoid drawing international attention.

After the border closure due to Covid-19, execution sites also expanded nationwide.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un [NEWS1]

Previously, sites were limited to Pyongyang and three northeastern provinces: North Hamgyong Province, South Hamgyong Province and Ryanggang Province. After the border closure, however, executions were carried out in four cities and eight provinces, including Pyongyang, Nampo, Kaesong and Rason. They were mainly conducted at Hyesan Airfield in Ryanggang Province, along the Susong River in Chongjin, North Hamgyong Province, and in Pyongyang. Selecting inactive airfields and riverbanks made it easier to mobilize large numbers of people to witness the executions, according to the TJWG.

The executions were used to suppress public dissent as economic hardship worsened due to the border closure, experts say. In fact, periods with more than 10 public executions under Kim Jong-un were 2012 to 2014 and 2020 to 2021, accounting for 64.0 percent of executions during the 13-year analysis period, indicating that Kim Jong-un’s sense of insecurity during the Covid-19 lockdown period was as significant as in the early years of his rule.

More specifically, in the five years after the border closure, the number of executions and death sentences in North Korea increased by 116.7 percent — from 30 between March 14, 2015 and Jan. 29, 2020, prior to the border closure, to 65 between Jan. 30, 2020 and Dec. 16, 2024. The number of people sentenced to death rose by 247.7 percent from 44 to 153 over the same period.

Comparison of localities before and after the Covid-19 border closure [TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE WORKING GROUP]

TJWG also read this as the North's awareness of global attention to the state's human rights issues.

“Executions decreased between 2015 and 2019, when discussions were underway about referring Kim Jong-un and other North Korean leaders to the International Criminal Court and when North Korea’s human rights issues were actively addressed at the United Nations,” said Lee Young-hwan, head of the TJWG. “After the Covid-19 border closure, internal control was maximized through public executions.”

In particular, after the border closure, capital cases connected to accessing foreign culture, such as K-pop, as well as religion and "superstition," increased by 250 percent, from four to 14 cases.

The number of people executed or sentenced to death for such charges also rose by 442.9 percent from seven to 38 over the same period. Executions and death sentences for political crimes, such as violating Kim Jong-un’s orders, increased by 600 percent from four people before the border closure to 28 people.

Kim Jong-un, top right, watches North Korea's Hwaseong-11 Ra surface-to-surface ballistic missile on April 19, in this photo released by North's official Rodong Sinmun the following day. [NEWS1]

Such increases show that as Kim Jong-un pursues a fourth-generation hereditary succession — presumably to his child — he is strengthening control over thought and culture and increasing executions for political domination.

“It appeared that executions had somewhat decreased after the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea identified widespread executions as crimes against humanity in 2014, but they have expanded again due to Covid-19,” said Shin Hee-seok, a legal analyst at the TJWG.

“There is a need to consider establishing a permanent investigative body to hold those responsible accountable under international criminal law, similar to mechanisms for Myanmar or Iran.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY SHIM SEOK-YONG [[email protected]]