North Korea’s acknowledgment of public executions at a U.N. human rights review in Geneva this November was carefully orchestrated. The admission came from Pak Kwang Ho, director of North Korea’s Central Court, during the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
“Comrade Pak Kwang-ho continues his normal duties without any repercussions. His U.N. statement was made on party orders, not of his own initiative,” a North Korean source told Daily NK recently.
During the Nov. 7 review, Pak stated that while executions typically occur in private at designated locations, they may be conducted publicly in certain cases. These exceptions, he explained, include instances where criminals caused severe injury, showed no remorse, or when victims’ families requested a public execution. This admission was notable given that North Korean human rights groups and the international community have long condemned the practice of public executions.
Experts suggest the regime’s acknowledgment may be linked to Article 35 of the Pyongyang Cultural Language Protection Act, enacted in January 2023, which explicitly mentions public executions. The source confirmed this, saying Pak’s statement was intended to “assert the legitimacy of our policy as a sovereign state.”
“The remarks were meant to correct misunderstandings about our legal punishment system. They were deliberate and authorized by the party and state,” the source explained. “While public executions are controversial internationally, North Korea views them as essential for maintaining order. The leadership felt it necessary to acknowledge this as a sovereign nation.”
Pak also mentioned “separate reeducation facilities” for those committing crimes against the state, apparently attempting to counter testimonies from human rights groups and defectors. “The emphasis on reeducation was to show these aren’t political prisoners, but individuals being offered rehabilitation,” the source said, while firmly maintaining that “there are no political prisoners or political prison camps in the Republic.”
According to the source, this position is unlikely to change soon, largely due to concerns that “acknowledging the existence of these camps would intensify international pressure.”
Of the 294 recommendations made during the UPR, North Korea has rejected 88. These include demands to close political prison camps, return detained and kidnapped individuals, guarantee freedom of expression, repeal the Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Law along with the Pyongyang Cultural Language Protection Act and Youth Education Guarantee Act, and end support for Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
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December 17, 2024 at 05:00AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)