The Transitional Justice Working Group said in its latest study, “Mapping North Korea’s Executions Before and After the Covid-19 Pandemic,” that it documented 136 executions between Dec. 17, 2011, and Dec. 16, 2024, resulting in at least 358 deaths. Including cases where death sentences were issued but not confirmed as carried out, the total rises to 144 cases involving 367 individuals.
The report draws on interviews with 880 North Korean defectors conducted since 2015, as well as open-source reporting from media outlets with sources inside the country.
Executions were concentrated in two periods: the early years of Kim’s rule from 2012 to 2014 and the COVID-19 border-closure period from 2020 to 2021. Together, these periods accounted for 64 percent of all executions and nearly 75 percent of those executed.
Within Pyongyang, 5 of 10 identified execution sites were located within a 10-kilometer radius of Kim’s office, often in open areas such as abandoned airfields, riversides and mining sites.
Public executions remained the dominant method, often carried out in areas accessible to large crowds, underscoring their role as a tool of intimidation.
The types of offenses leading to executions also shifted markedly. Before the border closure, murder was the most common charge. Afterward, violations involving foreign culture — including South Korean films, TV shows and music — as well as religion and “superstitious” practices became the leading offenses.
"Following the border closure, death penalty cases for murder declined by 44.4% (from 9 to 5), while the number of condemned persons decreased by 10.0% (from 10 to 9). In contrast, offenses related to foreign culture, religion, and 'superstition' experienced the largest growth," the report said. "These cases increased by 250% (from 4 to 14), while the number of condemned persons increased by 442.9% (from 7 to 38)."
The findings suggest a broader tightening of social control under Kim’s rule, according to the report.
Using Jan. 30, 2020, when Pyongyang sealed its borders, as a benchmark, TJWG compared two equal periods and found executions and death sentences rose from 30 cases before the closure to 65 afterward, an increase of 116.7 percent. The number of people executed jumped from 44 to 153, up 247.7 percent.
The report also found that executions spread geographically after the pandemic, expanding from eight locations to 19 across the country. Among identified cases, the highest number occurred in Hyesan near the Chinese border, followed by Pyongyang and Chongjin.
The group noted that executions involving political offenses — such as violating Kim’s orders or criticizing the leadership — also rose sharply, reflecting what it described as an expanded use of the death penalty to enforce political control.
Public executions remained the dominant method, often carried out in areas accessible to large crowds, underscoring their role as a tool of intimidation.
Firearms were used in the vast majority of cases, accounting for more than 96 percent of executions, according to the report.
TJWG said it has been mapping execution sites since 2015, building a database from defector testimony and open-source reporting to track patterns of capital punishment under Kim’s rule.
The report is the fourth in its series examining executions in North Korea.
Source: koreaherald.com, Jung Min-kyung, April 28, 2026
"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde
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