The North Korean government is increasingly implementing the death penalty, including for people caught watching and sharing foreign films and TV dramas, a major UN report has found.


The dictatorship, which remains largely cut off from the world, is also subjecting its people to more forced labour while further restricting their freedoms, the report added.


The UN Human Rights Office found that over the past decade the North Korean state had tightened control over all aspects of citizens' lives.


No other population is under such restrictions in today's world, it concluded, adding that surveillance had become more pervasive, aided in part by advances in technology.


The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, stated that if this situation continued, North Koreans would face more suffering, brutal repression, and fear.


The report, which is based on over 300 interviews with defectors, noted an increase in the application of the death penalty, citing at least six new laws introduced since 2015 that allow for such sentences for watching foreign media.


Escapees reported that since 2020, there had been more executions for distributing foreign content, often carried out publicly by firing squads to instill fear.


Interviewee Kang Gyuri recalled the execution of three friends for possessing South Korean entertainment, illustrating the chilling atmosphere under Kim Jong Un's rule.


Under Kim's leadership, hopes for improved living conditions dissipated as the regime focused on military aspirations and further isolation.


Many defectors reported severe food shortages exacerbated by government crackdowns on informal markets, limiting their ability to survive.


The report highlights the use of forced labor, particularly recruiting impoverished individuals into hazardous work, and the persistence of political prison camps notorious for human rights violations.


As the UN seeks to refer North Korea's situation to the International Criminal Court, geopolitical complexities arise, especially concerning China's and Russia's support for the regime.


Urgent calls from the UN demand the abolition of political prison camps, the end of the death penalty, and education on human rights for North Koreans.