Capital punishment is a legal penalty in North Korea. It is used for many offenses, such as grand theft, murder, rape, drug smuggling, treason, espionage, political dissent, defection, piracy, consumption of media not approved by the government and proselytizing religious beliefs that contradict the practiced Juche ideology. Owing to the secrecy of the North Korean government, working knowledge of the topic depends heavily on anonymous sources, accounts of defectors (both relatives of victims, and former members of the government) and reports by Radio Free Asia, a United States government-funded news service that operates in East Asia. The country allegedly carries out public executions, which, if true, makes North Korea one of the last four countries that still performs public executions, the other three being Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Somalia, but this has been disputed by some defector accounts.
Reported executions The South-Korean-based Database Center for North Korean Human Rights has collected unverified testimony on 1,193 historic executions in North Korea through 2009. Amnesty International reported that there were 105 executions between 2007 and 2012. The Foreign Policy periodical estimated there were 60 executions in 2010. In October 2001, the North Korean government told the UN Human Rights Committee that "only 13" executions had occurred since 1998 and that no public execution had occurred since 1992.
On December 13, 2013, North Korean state media announced the execution of Jang Sung-taek, the uncle by marriage of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un. The South Korean National Intelligence Service believes that two of Jang Sung-taek closest aides, Lee Yong-ha and Jang Soo-keel, were executed in mid-November 2013.
In 2014, the United Nations Human Rights Council created a Commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, investigating and documenting alleged instances of executions carried out with or without trial, publicly or secretly, in response to political and other crimes that are often not among the most serious. The Commission determined that these systematic acts, if true, rise to the level of crimes against humanity.
List of reported executions Date of execution Convict Crime Method SourceFebruary 2025Kim brothers and RiEscape attemptPublic execution by machine gun fireRadio Free AsiaJanuary 10, 2025Two nuclear power plant researchersFailing to meet technical targets set by the Central CommitteeUnspecifiedDaily NKAugust 31, 2024Ri (39F) and Kang (43F)Aiding an escape attemptPublic executionNDTVAugust 202420–30 party officialsCorruption and dereliction of duty in failure to prevent the Yalu river flooding, which killed 5,000 peopleUnspecifiedNewsweekDecember 19, 2023Unnamed 23-year-old manMurder–robberyPublic execution by firing squadRadio Free AsiaSeptember 25, 2023Unnamed 40-year-old manStealing medicinePublic execution by firing squadRadio Free AsiaAugust 30, 2023Nine unnamed peopleSmuggling beefPublic execution by firing squadRadio Free AsiaMarch 2023Unnamed pregnant womanPolitical dissentUnspecifiedHindustan TimesMarch 2023Six unnamed teenagersWatching South Korean movies and using drugsExecution by shootingHindustan Times October 2022 Two unnamed teenagers Distributing South Korean movies Public execution by firing squad Radio Free Asia October 2022 Unnamed teenager Murder of stepmother Public execution by firing squad Radio Free AsiaApril 2022Unnamed 22-year-old manDistributing South Korean mediaPublic execution by firing squadSouth Korea's Unification Ministry, BBC January 2022 Unnamed man and woman Distributing South Korean movies Public execution by firing squad Daily NK March 2, 2021 Three unnamed men and one unnamed woman Distributing South Korean movies Public execution by firing squad Daily NK July 20, 2020 Six unnamed men Sex trafficking Public execution by shooting Radio Free Asia May 2020 Unnamed woman and man Escape attempt Execution by shooting Radio Free Asia April 2020 Three unnamed men Theft Execution by shooting Radio Free Asia February 2020 Unnamed man Quarantine violation Execution by shooting March 2019 Two unnamed women Fortune-telling Public execution by shooting January 10, 2019 Unnamed man Murder of prison guard Execution by shooting December 2018 Unnamed man Corruption Public execution by shooting December 2018Unnamed personFortune tellingPublic execution; method unspecified November 17, 2018Unnamed womanFortune tellingExecution by shootingDaily NK2018Male military officerEmbezzlementUnspecified 2018 Two unnamed people Unspecified Public execution by shooting KINU 2018 Unnamed woman Unspecified Public execution by shooting KINU February or March 2018 Unnamed man Unspecified Public execution by shooting KINU January 2018 Unnamed woman Unspecified Public execution by shooting KINU January 2018 Unnamed woman in her 30s Drug-related murder Public execution by shooting KINU 2017 Unnamed man Distributing South Korean movies Public execution by shooting KINU December 2017 Unnamed woman Unspecified Public execution by shooting KINUApril 2017One manExtortion, murder, theftSecret execution; method unspecifiedDaily NK February 27, 2017 Five unnamed men Making false report Execution by shooting February 2017 20 unnamed people Watching South Korean movies and drug trading Public execution by shooting KINUJuly 2016Kim Yong-jinHaving bad posture and sleeping during meetingsExecution by shooting 2016 Unnamed man Human trafficking Public execution by shooting KINU May 2015 Choe Yong-gon TreasonUnspecifiedBBC March 2015 Five men in their 30s and 40s Watching South Korean movies and drug trade Public execution by shooting KINU2015Six peopleConducting Christian worshipExecution by shooting October 2014 Three unnamed men Distributing South Korean movies Public execution by shooting KINU 2014 Two unnamed men Distributing South Korean movies and procuring prostitution Execution by shooting KINU 2014 Unnamed man Distributing South Korean movies and drug trading Public execution by shooting KINU2014UnspecifiedConducting ShamanismUnspecifiedUSCIRF201449-year-old manCalling relative in South KoreaUnspecified 2013 Two university students Watching South Korean adult videos Execution by shooting KINU December 12, 2013 Jang Song-thaek and 7 unnamed men Treason Execution by shooting KCNA November 2013 30-year-old man Drugs, illegal video recordings, and rape Public execution by shooting KINU October 2013 Three people (including one man and one woman) Selling drugs Public execution by shooting KINU January 2013 Two men South Korean video recordings Unspecified KINU December 4, 2011 Three men and one woman Selling drugs Public execution by shooting KINUSeptember 2011A lesbian coupleCorruption of public moralsUnspecified July 2011 45-year-old man Selling drugs Public execution by shooting KINUApril 2011Child and GrandmotherConducting Christian worshipExecution by firing squad January 3, 2011 Unnamed man and unnamed woman Treason Execution by shooting October 2010 Two men and two women Human trafficking Public execution by shooting KINU July 2010 Two men and four women Human trafficking Public execution by shooting KINU May 2010 Unnamed man Selling South Korean compact discs Public execution by shooting KINU March 17, 2010 Pak Nam-gi Treason Execution by shooting YNA February 2010 Unnamed man Rape of a minor Public execution by shooting KINU November 2009 Four people Human trafficking Public execution by shooting KINU September 2009 Four people Human trafficking Public execution by shooting KINU July 2009 34-year-old man Rape and murder Public execution by shooting KINU June 2009 Unnamed man Rape Public execution by shooting KINU May 2009 Two men in their 20s and one woman in her 40s Aiding escape attempt Public execution by shooting KINU October 2008 Unnamed woman Selling South Korean compact discs Public execution KINU September 2008 50-year-old man Selling drugs Public execution KINU Summer 2008 Four men and one woman Selling drugs Public execution by shooting KINU May 2008 26-year-old man Human trafficking Public execution by firing squad KINU March 2008 Three women Human trafficking Public execution KINU 30 January 2008 Seven people Selling drugs Public execution KINU January 2008 Unnamed man Murdering a four-year-old child Public execution KINU 2007 Seven people Stealing and selling rice and gasoline Public execution KINU 2007 Man and woman Smuggling protected trees to China Public execution KINU December 2007 Kim Young-man Selling drugs Public execution KINU 26 December 2007 59-year-old man and another man Selling sex videotapes and a South Korean movie DVD Public execution KINU 25 December 2007 Three men, including a 45-year-old and a woman Selling drugs Public execution KINU 22 December 2007 Four unnamed men Smuggling Public execution (2), secret execution (2) KINU November 2007 Unnamed official Taking bribes Public execution KINU 5 October 2007 75-year-old man Converting phone lines to facilitate calls with outside world Public execution KINU Early September 2007 Unnamed man Smuggling lumber Public execution by firing squad KINU September 2007 Army sergeant Murder-robbery Public execution by firing squad KINU August 2007 or later Mak-kong (50M) Gambling Public execution KINU July 2007 41-year-old man Receiving money from South Korea Public execution KINU July 2007 College student Murdering his pregnant girlfriend Public execution KINU July 2007 Unnamed man Selling drugs Public execution KINU 25 July 2007 Man and woman Gambling, drug selling, selling sex magazines and videotapes, as well as embezzlement