The number of state executions rose sharply in North Korea following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, and a “special effort” is being made to counter Christianity, which is seen as a Western religious import, it is emerging.
A new report from the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), based in Seoul, revealed that following a decline in the years before the pandemic, executions and death sentences surged by 116.7% after the nation closed its border due to Covid-19, with an increase of 247.7% in the number of individuals subjected to such treatment.
The vast majority of killings were carried out by shooting, while almost three quarters were carried out publicly and almost 5% were carried out without a trial. Perhaps most concerningly for Christians, the number of executions for the influence of South Korean and Western culture, including religious and superstitious practices, surged by 250% after the border closed in 2020.
Discussing what has prompted an increase in state brutality, Open Doors Persecution Analyst Thomas Muller told en that North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un has found it “increasingly problematic” to keep “unacceptable” Western and South Korean influence out of the country in recent years, prompting an “increased effort” to “keep society under control”.
He revealed that it continues to see Christianity as “extremely dangerous to society,” prompting a “special effort to counter Christians and rout them out.” He continued: “We continue to receive reports about Christians caught up in the state’s latest crackdown. Christians are in great danger.”
“I would argue that the bigger change in the behaviour of the North Korean state comes from the new self-confidence Kim Jong Un has found, now that he is indispensable for Russia, with many North Koreans fighting in the Ukraine conflict. This gives him an international stature, helps to fill the regime’s coffers and it has thrown them an economic lifeline. Now that everything seems to be a bit more stable on the economic front, he can focus more on his battle for ideological purity.”
