As far as killing its own citizens goes, the United States and the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea see eye to eye. Both of these countries still have the death penalty. Their two systems
are vastly different, and it is no secret that North Korea and the United States don’t get along.
Yet, it’s interesting to note that the death penalty is something both countries have in
common; even though most of the world has stopped using it for human rights reasons.
As we examine death row in North Korea and the United States there are many differences.
There are also some similarities that might surprise you. Whether you agree with the death
penalty or not, the fact remains, both the United States of America and North Korea are two of 54
countries in the entire world that still use the death penalty. Just so we’re clear, there are 141
countries that have outlawed this practice, so the U.S. and North Korea are not in the majority.
In 2020 Amnesty International recorded 483 executions in 18 countries. This
means that although 54 countries may have the death penalty, they are not actually
using it all the time. 2020 was a crazy year, but statistically there was a 26%
decrease in executions from the previous year. China is still the world’s leader in executions,
but where do the United States and North Korea fall on this list?
Due to the lack of data and information coming out of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea it is
hard to say just how many executions happen each year. To be fair, the number will always be much
higher than we think, because the government isn’t held accountable to anyone but itself. So they
can pretty much do whatever they want to their citizens. This includes making people disappear,
or killing them without cause. In a way, everyone in North Korea is on death row at all times.
The United States on the other hand has a judicial system that allows for a fair trial.
It is not a perfect system, and mistakes have been made in the past where people
who were innocent have been executed, but at least there is some accountability. The U.S.
is also one of only two countries in the Americas that still has the death penalty,
the other being Trinidad and Tobago. However, Trinidad and Tobago has not
carried out an execution since 1979. The United States executed 17 people in the year 2020.
This puts the United States 6th on the list of the most executions in the last few years.
The five countries ahead of the U.S. are: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Egypt. However, it
is a pretty safe bet that if we had any data from North Korea, it would be pretty high on the list.
It is currently unknown how many people there are on death row in North Korea, or even how
many people have been executed. These statistics are closely guarded by the North Korean government
and they refuse to release crime statistics of any kind. What we do know of death row in North Korea
comes mostly from defectors, and unfortunately not many of them make it out of the country alive.
The United States does release data around the number of people from death row executed each
year. In 2020 the number of executions dropped from the previous year by over 20%. On October
1st of 2020 there were 2,553 inmates on death row in the United States. There seems to be a trend of
less people being executed in the U.S. each year, but only time will tell if this will continue.
Unlike in North Korea, the death penalty varies by state in the U.S. As of right now there are
27 states that still use the death penalty. This means that in the remaining 23 U.S. states the
death penalty is illegal. In North Korea 100% of the country is subject to the death penalty.
You may be wondering what can send someone to death row in
North Korea versus in the United States. The crimes that can get
someone sentenced to death in the two countries are actually quite similar.
In both North Korea and the United States someone can be given the death penalty for treason and
espionage. However, only in North Korea can you be sentenced to death for political dissidence,
consumption of media that has not been approved by the government, and practicing a form of
religion other than the state ideology of Juche. However, like in North Korea, someone can get the
death penalty in the United States for murder, rape, and large-scale drug trafficking as well.
Once someone has committed a crime punishable by death, both countries have different ways of
going through the trial process. In North Korea the government says everyone gets a
trial where they can defend themselves in court, but by all accounts this is just a charade. The
trial is never fair, and the verdict is most likely already known going into the court.
And that is even if someone is lucky to get to court. Oftentimes the judiciary process is
bypassed all together, and the accused is just sent immediately to death row.
In the United States, offenders are allowed to remain silent during the initial arrest
and have a lawyer present during all future questioning. People in North Korea receive
neither of these things. The defendant in the United States then gets a fair trial
with an impartial jury and the case is based on evidence. In an ideal situation
the defendant is innocent until proven guilty in the United States. However,
in North Korea if the government thinks you’re guilty, you are guilty no matter what.
After being convicted and sent to death row in the United States a
defendant can still appeal their case, or a deal might even be made
for a reduced sentence. This is to say there are options for death row inmates,
especially those whose punishment may not fit the crime. There are no appeals,
no deals, and no hope to be had if someone finds themself on death row in North Korea.
Due to lack of information coming out of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
we may never actually know how many people are executed there each year. However, from sources
such as defectors and human rights organizations that are trying to make sense of the matter,
we do have a few statistics. For example, Amnesty International reported there were
around 105 executions between 2007 and 2012 in North Korea. From news sources
such as Daily North Korea and Radio Free Asia it has been reported that two men and a woman
were publicly executed by firing squad in 2021 for distributing South Korean movies in
the country. These statistics are just the tip of the iceberg, and many believe that
hundreds of people are sentenced to death each year by the North Korean government.
There have been approximately 300 people from death row executed in the United States over
the last decade. It is hard to tell whether this is more or less than in North Korea,
but the conditions in the prison camps where people on death row
wait for execution in North Korea are something straight from a nightmare.
In the United States, prisoners get at least the basics. They receive food and occasional
recreational time depending on the prison and crime. Mental illnesses tend to run rampant on
death row in the United States, and the cells can be uncomfortable, but there are legal and civil
rights organizations that fight for prisoners' well being. There is no denying that the mental
health of death row inmates in the U.S. could be taken a little more seriously, especially since
the UN says that more than 15 days in solitaire confinement is torture. It is not uncommon for
a death row inmate to spend much more than 15 days in solitary in the United States.
When sentenced to death row in North Korea people are tortured, starved,
and even murdered in the prison camps where they are held. These facilities aren’t so much prisons,
as they are internment camps. It is sometimes referred to as a gulag system,
reminiscent of the forced labor camps Joseph Stalin implemented in the Soviet Union.
One of the main differences between people on death row in the two countries
is that in North Korea most prisoners don’t even know what they are being detained for. There
doesn’t seem to be a distinction between petty criminals and those on death row in North Korea,
as they are all sent to the same prison camps where they lose their basic human rights. In the
United States a prisoner cannot be sent to death row until after they are tried and found guilty.
Within the North Korean prison camps themselves death row inmates—and everyone else—are
engaged in forced labor and torture. Routine executions and death from the conditions in
the camps are reported to be common. So, regardless of who you are or what you did,
if you are in a North Korean prison camp you are pretty much already on death row.
In the United States the execution of a death row inmate is planned well ahead of time.
They know when they will be put to death and are given a last meal. This doesn’t mean waiting for
your own execution isn’t scary, but at least the prisoner knows it's coming, and even what
to expect since the only means of execution currently used in the U.S. is lethal injection.
In North Korea a prisoner may not know what they are even being detained for;
let alone what their sentence is, or when it will be carried out. If you are unlucky
enough to be on death row in North Korea, your execution could happen at any time
and at any location. The main way death row prisoners are executed in North Korea seems
to be by firing squad, that is unless they die in the prison camp first.
It has been reported that there are more gruesome ways that death row
prisoners in North Korea have been executed. Depending on the crime,
a firing squad might not be the method used. Prisoners could be hung or decapitated in public.
These forms of execution seem to be reserved for high ranking criminals such as officials
convicted of drug trafficking or embezzlement and those suspected of defecting or treason.
The death penalty in the United States is a hot button issue.
Some are vehemently against it, while others support it.
There are arguments to be made on both sides, and in the United States people can have that debate.
But what about in North Korea? Do the citizens of the country support the death penalty?
Like most things in North Korea this is hard to know. If you ask the government,
North Koreans support everything they do. From working people to death in their prison camps,
to making sure their Supreme Leader lives a lavish lifestyle.
But we all know this is just a show put on by the propaganda department of the country.
What the people of North Korea believe or want is of no importance to the government. They are the
ultimate authority, and anyone who disagrees with them may find themselves on death row.
In 2019 the Transitional Justice Working Group, an NGO in South Korea, released a report that
mapped out 318 sites where the North Korean government carried out public executions.
In the United States executions are no longer public, and are carried out in only a handful
of facilities. In North Korea executions have taken place near rivers, markets,
sports stadiums, and even schools. It has been suspected that during public executions
in North Korea family members and children are forced to watch their loved ones die.
What it comes down to is that in North Korea death row is somewhat of a free-for-all. There is not
really a system in place other than if someone is believed to have committed a crime, they
are found guilty without a real trial, sent to a prison camp to work and starve, and then publicly
executed without any warning. In the United States there is a process that leads to someone being
sent to death row, and even this is becoming less and less prevalent over recent years.
Now check out “Death Row: Japan vs United States - What's the
Difference?” Or watch “50 Insane Death Row Facts Nobody Tells You.”