North Korea saw a sharp increase in death sentences and executions following its pandemic-related border lockdown in 2020, according to a Seoul-based human rights organization.

Around 44 North Koreans were estimated to have been sentenced to death or executed between 2015 to 2020, compared to the 153 citizens between 2020 to 2024, the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) in a report published Tuesday. 

Executions in North Korea appeared to drop between 2015 and 2019 due to heightened global awareness following the U.N.’s human rights abuse inquiries, before spiking after the border lockdown on Jan. 30, 2020, likely