2018, a criminal who had murdered the son of the Party chief secretary of Onsong County, North Hamgyeong Province was publicly executed immediately after a public trial.208 Details about public executions are examined in the section on public executions in II. The Reality of Civil and Political Rights, 2. Right Not to Be Tortured or Receive Inhuman Treatment. On the other hand, a North Korean defector who had lived in Kimjongsuk County, Yanggang Province and defected in 2019 testified that public trials, which were conducted in the past, are no longer carried out.209 Whether this is a phenomenon confined to certain regions or a common trend across North Korea is not clear.
Additional surveys and defector testimonies are needed.
(1) Comrade Trial System
North Korea has an independent and unique form of a trial system called the comrade trial system, which is a social institution designed to control the population without having to go through formal trial organizations and proceedings. North Korea has abolished the crowd trial system, which was temporarily enforced during the Korean War, and began to operate the regional-level comrade trial system around 1972. The legal grounds for the system can be found in the Prosecution and Surveillance Law of 2012. Article 40, subparagraph 3 of the Law stipulates that a prosecutor may declare a comrade trial to rectify violations of law or inquire into legal accountability when he/she intends to refer lawbreakers to the Socialist Law-Abiding Life Guidance Committee or the Comrade Trial Board.
Economic crimes, cases in which loss has occurred as a result of negligence, minor incidents involving acts that hinder Kim Il Sung’s unitary ideology and other relevant crimes are subject to a comrade trial. At a comrade trial, people who have committed the said crimes may be subject to unpaid labor discipline of six months or less, while those who have committed economic improprieties may be subject to an administrative fine equal to 10 to 20 times the undue gain in the form of deduction from their salaries, suspension of exercise of administrative rights, demotion, self-criticism, stern warning or admonition; however, there seems to be no appellate procedure in place.210
The relationship between comrade trials and criminal trials is not clear. Defector testimony claims that a comrade trial ultimately leads to a criminal trial. A North Korean defector said that comrade trials were held on every regular market day (once every 10 days) in Yeonsa County, North Hamgyeong Province, and as a result, most of the accused (90%) were sent to labor training camps (rodongdanryundae), and some (10%) were sent to prison camps (kyohwaso).211
It is recognized that the comrade trial system is primarily implemented in the military.212 A North Korean defector testified that a soldier who was caught deserting from a military unit in Cheonnae County, Gangwon Province for three years was brought to a comrade trial in February 2019.213 With respect to comrade trials, another North Korean defector responded that their purpose is “to criticize those who fail to do military service well.”214
Comrade trials in the military are conducted starting from the battalion level and always with the presence of an immediate superior. Trial results are predetermined by a higher department,
Court Administration Agency‚ An Overview of North Korea’s Juridical System (Seoul: Court Administration Agency‚ 1996), pp. 630–637.
NKHR2016000188 2016-12-27.
NKHR2016000029 2016-03-08; NKHR2017000073 2017-08-28; NKHR2018000107 2018-10-01; NKHR2019000012 2019-04-20.
NKHR2019000115 2019-11-30.
NKHR2016000001 2016-01-12.
and a comrade trial is carried out to set an example. Most comrade trials end with education or criticism, but in serious cases can lead to the dishonorable discharge of the accused.215 North Korean people regard dishonorable discharge as a disgrace and perceive it as a heavy punishment.216 Those who are dishonorably discharged from the military are relocated to mines or farming villages with their families.217 Punishment is not imposed on-site at comrade trials. Preliminary examination procedures take place after comrade trials, and punishment is imposed thereafter based on the Criminal Law.218 For instance, those causing a social disturbance are forcibly expelled from the military and sent to a prison camp (kyohwaso).219
(2) Political Criminal Trails by State Security Institutions
North Korea implements a policy that strictly differentiates political crimes from general crimes and imposes punishments according to this distinction. The North Korean Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that cases involving crimes against the state and the people shall be subject to investigation and
NKHR2018000107 2018-10-01; NKHR2019000115 2019-11-30.
NKHR2019000012 2019-04-20.
NKHR2015000069 2015-04-07.
NKHR2015000119 2015-09-08; NKHR2015000131 2015-09-22; NKHR2015000172 2015-12-01.
NKHR2016000001 2016-01-12.
preliminary examination conducted by state security institutions, and the first instance trial for such crimes shall be held in a provincial (direct-controlled municipality) court. As such, cases involving crimes against the state and the people are handled differently than cases of general crime (Articles 46, 48 and 51).
However, testimonies have been collected indicating that contrary to the applicable provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law, trials are conducted by state security institutions. A North Korean defector who is a former MSS agent testified that if the facts of a crime are determined to be accurate in a preliminary examination, which includes interrogation of a suspect by an MSS provincial bureau, such finding is reported to the MSS prosecution bureau. According to the testifier, if the prosecution bureau determines that the suspect has in fact committed the criminal act, he/she is tried at the location where the preliminary examination was carried out, and in that trial, a prosecutor from the MSS prosecution bureau renders a judgment in the name of the Central Court. The testifier said that such a trial is held behind closed doors, and a sentence is decided pursuant to the Criminal Law. According to the testifier, the Ministry of State Security also determines whether it would be appropriate to imprison all of the family members of the convicted as well as whether the convicted should be imprisoned for life, and there is no literature that provides a basis for such determination; relevant officials of the ministry hold a case council meeting to decide how to handle a
case, including the scope and duration of imprisonment.220 Likewise, a North Korean defector who had carried out relevant work at the Ministry of State Security said that after a preliminary examination, a prosecutor from the MSS prosecution bureau comes to render the final judgment. The testifier said that in sum, political prisoners do not undergo formal trial procedures.221
(3) Imposition of Administrative Penalties by Various Institutions
In North Korea, administrative penalties are imposed for illegal acts that are not serious enough to be punished under the Criminal Law. Here, illegal acts refer to acts violating domestic legal order that are dangerous enough to be subjected to administrative penalties (Article 8 of the Administrative Penalty Law).
Administrative penalties include admonitions/stern warnings, unpaid labor or re-educational labor discipline, demotion/
dismissal/removal from jobs, fines, demand for compensation, confiscation, suspensions and suspension/degradation/deprivation of qualifications (Article 15 of the Administrative Penalty Law).
Administrative penalties may be imposed not only by judicial institutions, but also by other institutions, such as the Socialist Law-Abiding Life Guidance Committees of various levels, the
North Korean defector ○○○, 19 April 2005, interviewed in Seoul.
North Korean defector ○○○, 10 October 2005, interviewed in Seoul.
Cabinet, prosecutorial institutions, arbitral institutions, people’s security institutions, censorship and supervision institutions and qualification-granting institutions. Agencies, enterprises and organizations can also impose administrative penalties within the scope prescribed by laws (Article 332 of the Administrative Penalty Law). Administrative penalties are also stipulated in the People’s Security Enforcement Law and the Prosecution and Surveillance Law. People’s security institutions and the Responsible Workers’ Association can impose re-educational labor, suspension/ degradation/deprivation of qualifications, suspensions and confiscations for acts violating the legal order (Article 57 of the People’s Security Enforcement Law).
Prosecutors can also impose labor training (Article 40, paragraph 3 of the Prosecution and Surveillance Law).
In North Korea, a variety of administrative penalties under the Administrative Penalty Law, the People’s Security Enforcement Law and the Prosecution and Surveillance Law are used as a means of exercising strict social control over the North Korean people. Among these administrative penalties, unpaid labor, re-educational labor and labor training disciplines in particular cannot be simply regarded as a form of administrative restriction.
Rather, they must be understood to exhibit characteristics of punitive action.