SEOUL, April 28 (UPI) -- North Korea ramped up executions during the COVID-19 pandemic, a report released Tuesday said, as authorities intensified crackdowns on offenses tied to South Korean media and other "anti-reactionary" activity.
The report by the Seoul-based Transitional Justice Working Group examined capital punishment under leader Kim Jong Un's 13 years in power, documenting at least 153 people executed or sentenced to death between 2020 and 2024 -- a 247% increase from the previous five-year period.
The findings draw on testimony from North Korean defectors and reporting from sources inside the country, and form part of TJWG's long-running effort to map execution practices across the isolated state.
Researchers analyzed 144 documented cases of executions and death sentencings spanning 2011 to 2024, involving at least 358 individuals, and identified 46 execution sites nationwide, including several clustered near central government facilities in Pyongyang.
Executions expanded geographically in the years following the country's pandemic-era border closure, spreading from a handful of northern areas to cities and provinces nationwide, the report said.
