UN Report Highlights North Korea’s Deepening Repression

United Nations Special Rapporteur Elizabeth Salmón addressed a UN General Assembly committee on October 27 following reports that North Korean authorities had increased the use of public executions, including for recent offenses.

In her report, Salmón characterized the government's use of the death penalty as "a criminal sanction [and] means of social, political and ideological control," alongside expanded surveillance and tightened restrictions on basic freedoms.

The report corroborates Human Rights Watch research documenting heightened ideological control since the start of Covid-19 and a recent Transitional Justice Working Group report that found death sentences in North Korea increased sharply since 2020, particularly for those accused of distributing foreign media in the country.

As the United States and South Korea pursue diplomatic dialogues with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the focus on security issues should not again displace North Korea's many rights issues.

UN human rights offices and independent experts have continued to monitor North Korea's deteriorating rights situationdespite difficult circumstances. However, UN member countries have not acted on this reporting and focused entirely on North Korea's threats to international peace and security. But the threats North Korea poses are facilitated and directly linked to the country's rights violations. As Salmón said, governments need to "[integrate] human rights considerations into all future engagement with [North Korea]."

Multiple UN findings, statements by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and UN Human Rights Council resolutions have affirmed that rights violations-forced labor, in particular-have enabled and remain linked to North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The government devotes massive resources to maintaining its nuclear weapons and missile stockpiles while many North Koreans face chronic hunger.

Security and rights issues need to be addressed together. The UN General Assembly has the power to forge these connections, even as the Security Council remains deadlocked. The General Assembly should request additional reporting on these issues from other UN bodies or explore independent investigations into connections between rights abuses and other issues and North Korea's threats to security. And before any diplomatic talks commence, it should recommend that all dialogues with North Korea address rights and security concerns in tandem.