There was an interview with some people who ecacped who talked about the public executions. One of the guys talked about how when he was a kid he watched a guy get executed for stealing some rope from his government job. The guy who was interviewed said that just seemed like a normal thing to him, that a man would be killed on stage for such a small thing. So I would think that most North Koreans would find it weird that we don't execute people over small crimes.

Edit: Here's the interview it does get a bit graphic with some of the descriptions though.