One of the most publicized issues in media regarding North Korea’s abuse of human rights is the death penalty. The death penalty is a quintessential example of not only the oppression North Korean citizens endure under their government, but also the “barbaric” methodology officials employ to punish their people.
Although executions are often carried out in secret, North Korea still holds public executions at least fifteen times a year to serve as an example to other citizens. Under the current regime of dictator Kim Jong-un, however, secrecy surrounding the frequency of the death penalty has increased. Relative to his father Kim Jong-il, the number of reported executions Kim Jong-un orders is much lower.
In North Korea, a great number of crimes are punishable by death, namely murder, rape, robbery, drug possession, and military offenses. Yet the one that stands out, highlighting North Korea’s inability to maintain the values upheld by the Universal Declaration of Human rights, is treason.
Death penality
by Shelley Choi