7 People Executed By North Korea's Kim Jong Un For Watching, Selling K-Pop Videos: Report

North Korea has executed at least seven people for watching or selling K-pop videos, a recent report revealed. Based on the findings by a human rights group from South Korea, the executions took place over the last decade under Kim Jong Un's reign.

Titled "Mapping Killings Under Kim Jong-Un," the lengthy report by the Transitional Justice Working Group stated that the reason for the execution was the seven people's indulgence of K-pop. Some of the people were executed in public as a warning to others. Relatives of the victims were also allegedly forced to witness the deadly punishments.

The incidents came to light with the help of 638 defectors who cooperated with the report’s authors. Out of the seven executions, six took place in Hyesan between 2012 and 2014, according to the report.

In June, reports claimed that Kim Jong Un launched a secretive anti-K-pop campaign to impose harsher penalties on citizens caught listening to the popular genre of music from South Korea.

The leader also dubbed the South Korean culture as a "vicious cancer" corrupting the "attire, hairstyles, speeches, behaviors" of young people in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, according to The New York Times.

Kim Jong Un took power a decade ago following the death of his father in December 2011.

This is not the first time that news of such executions in North Korea has been reported. Pyongyang has been accused of using state killings to instil fear among its population since many years. Kim Jong Un has reportedly executed top aides in the past -- including his uncle Jang Song Thaek in 2013.

The same non-profit South Korean group also analyzed satellite imagery and collected testimonies of 23 public executions. The defactors claimed that executions were carried out at closely monitored sites.

"In recent years, North Korea appears to be strategically selecting places away from the border area to carry out these killings," the NGO stated. "Monitoring and control of the assembled audience at these events is tightening to prevent information on public executions from leaking outside the country."

"Our findings suggest that the Kim (Jong Un) regime is paying more attention to human rights issues as a response to increased international scrutiny."