North Korea executes people for sharing videos and religious activities: report | World News

Rival South Korea said in a report on Thursday that North Korea executes people who do drugs, share South Korean media and religious activities because it stifles the human rights and freedoms of its citizens.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, compiled the 450-page report based on testimonies gathered between 2017 and 2022 from more than 500 North Koreans who fled their homes.

“The right to life of North Korean citizens appears to be under extreme threat,” the ministry said in the report.

“Widespread executions cannot justify the death penalty, including drug crimes, dissemination of Korean videos, and religious and superstitious activities.”

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Reuters could not independently verify the South Korean government’s findings, but they were consistent with the U.N. investigation and NGO reports.

North Korea has rejected criticism of its rights conditions as part of a plot to overthrow its ruler.

The report details rampant human rights abuses in state-dominated communities, prison camps and elsewhere, including public executions, torture and arbitrary arrests.

Deaths and torture are frequent in detention facilities, with some summarily executed after being caught trying to cross the border, the ministry said.

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The report comes as South Korea seeks to highlight the failure of its isolated neighbor to improve living conditions while racing to expand its nuclear and missile arsenal.

South Korean President Yoon Hee-yeol said the report should better inform the international community of North Korea’s “terrible” atrocities, saying North Korea should not receive “a penny” of economic aid as it pursues its nuclear ambitions.

Conservative Yoon’s approach is in stark contrast to that of his liberal predecessor, Moon Jae-in, who has been criticized for being less vocal on North Korean rights issues as he seeks to improve relations and build rapport with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un .

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The law requires the Unification Ministry to conduct an annual assessment of the state of rights in the North.

Nearly 34,000 North Koreans have settled in South Korea, but the number of defectors has fallen sharply due to tighter border security.

During the COVID-19 shutdown, North Korean arrivals hit a record low of just 63 in 2021 before rising to 67 in 2022, ministry data showed.