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North Korea’s executions for watching K-dramas, foreign content surge during Covid-19: report

A new report reveals that the number of people executed for consuming South Korean cultural content surged by 250 per cent during the pandemic

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during a meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang on February 23. Photo: KCNA via Reuters
SCMP’s Asia desk
When people were told to stay home during the Covid-19 pandemic, watching K-dramas became a solace for fans of South Korea’s best-known export around the world. But for North Koreans, it spelled death.

A report released by North Korea-focused human rights organisation Transition Justice Working Group (TJWG) on Tuesday showed that the number of people executed for consuming South Korean cultural content – such as K-dramas, films and K-pop – and religious practices surged by 250 per cent after borders closed due to the pandemic, according to The Korea Times.

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“As the regime pursues a fourth hereditary succession of power, there is a high risk of increased executions to strengthen cultural and ideological control and maintain political dominance,” the report said.

The report, based on testimonies from 265 North Korean defectors and reports from five media organisations, examined executions and death sentences during North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s rule from 2011 to 2024.

Of the 144 confirmed executions over those 13 years, 65 happened after North Korea closed its borders in 2020. At least 153 people were executed or sentenced to death between January 2020 and the end of 2024.

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