North Korea Trying To Hide Executions: Rights Group Raises Alarm

Escapee accounts are near-impossible to independently verify because of North Korea's strict control of access to its people and records.

North Korea has tried to stop leaks to the outside world about its public executions in recent years, suggesting Pyongyang may be responding to international scrutiny of its human rights record, a Seoul-based research group has said.

The Transitional Justice Working Group analysed satellite imagery and collected testimonies of 23 public executions during the era of Kim Jong Un, who took power a decade ago following the death of his father in December 2011.

North Korean escapees said executions were carried out at closely monitored sites with authorities keeping a close eye to ensure no information gets out, the TJWG said in a report released Wednesday.

"In recent years, North Korea appears to be strategically selecting places away from the border area to carry out these killings," said the NGO, which has a stated non-partisan mission of documenting human rights abuses and seeking justice for victims.