UN reports North Korea human rights worsened over past decade

North Korea’s human rights situation has deteriorated over the past decade, with capital punishment broadened and increasingly enforced for offenses such as distributing foreign media, according to a new assessment published Friday by the UN Human Rights Office for the Human Rights Council.

At the heart of the findings is the expanded use of the death penalty. Since 2015, North Korea has passed a series of laws that criminalize access to outside information, making even the possession of foreign films a potential capital offense. Witnesses told UN investigators that public trials and executions have become tools of intimidation, designed not only to punish but to instill fear across communities. Technology has amplified this repression, with inspection teams carrying out sudden raids