A North Korean firing squad last week executed a former girlfriend of leader Kim Jong-un and 11 other entertainers for allegedly violating laws banning pornography – at least according to a South Korean newspaper.
The report by Chosun Ilbo, an English-language newspaper of a Seoul media conglomerate, published on Thursday deemed the reported August 20 executions a death blow to expectations that Mr Kim would oversee a transition of his isolated and tyrannised people into a more open era.
Like many stories out of the Hermit Kingdom, the reports remain unconfirmed and are based on unnamed sources.
In this episode, among the dozen performers shot to death while their families and former band members were forced to watch was Hyon Song-wol, a singer Mr Kim reportedly courted a decade ago but was forced to abandon by his dictatorial father, Kim Jong-il. Hyon was pictured by North Korean state television performing at a concert August 8 in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, less than two weeks before her execution, Chosun Ilbo reported, posting a picture of the singer juxtaposed against one of Kim applauding at the concert.
The 12 members of the Unhasu Orchestra and the Wangjaesan Light Music Band were accused of violating anti-pornography laws by videotaping themselves having sex and selling copies of the tape to North Korean fans and in China.
The South Korean newspaper, which attributed reports of the executions to sources in China, said one also claimed that some of those arrested in the August 17 crackdown were found to have Bibles in their possession. Like most communist countries, North Korea denounces religion as an undesirable foreign influence.
Hyon married a North Korean military officer after Mr Kim’s father forced their breakup, but reportedly continued to see the Pyongyang heir apparent even after her marriage, Chosun Ilbo said.
