According to an unknown source of South Korean news outlet JoongAng Ibo, North Korea’s KimJong-Un planned an execution of 80 people throughout seven of its cities on Sunday November 3.
10 people were murdered in each of the cities including Wonsan, Chongjin, Sariwon, and Pyongsong.
In Wonsan, JoongAng’s source stated that officials forced 10,000 people of all ages into Shinpoong Stadium and forced them to watch the mass murder. Said source specified that the people executed in Wonsan had been charged with participating in the smuggling and watching of South Korean videos and movies, prostitution, or possession of a Holy Bible.
As word of the brutal executions spread through the countryside, the source explained, rumors began that it was part of Kim Jong-Un’s scare tactic campaign in response to Ri Sol-ju’s sex-tape scandal.
In June of 2012, Kim Jong-Un married Ri Sol-ju, a member of the Unhasu Orchestra. One year later, Kim Jong-Un made it illegal to watch obscene videos. Shortly after, rumors began that several members of the Unhasu orchestra as well as the Wangjaesan Art Troupe had appeared in a pornographic video-film. On August 17, Kim Jong-Un had the 9 performers who allegedly participated in the video arrested and three days later they were executed.
The news did not make the news until September 21 when Japan’s Asahi Shimbun published the story. According to JoongAng, a South Korean official who is familiar with the affairs of North Korea said that Kim sent someone sent someone to investigate the story, and found out his current wife had been involved in the scandal.
After the recent mass execution, JoongAng’s source explained, rumors began that this was Kim Jong-Un’s ongoing scare tactic campaign in response to Ri Sol-ju’s sex-tape scandal.
Though North Korean laws remain uncertain due to its private measures, JoongAng Ibo claims that North Korea’s Capital punishment law only permits executions for conspiring against the government, treason, and terrorism.
As a child raised in the U.S., I was always glad live in a time period of great technological innovation and little war or suffering. When one gets older, one learns that the advancement of nuclear weapons is the reason for the lack of a World War III, creating a period of uneasy peace. Unfortunately, peace doesn’t come without war and the First Amendment that shields our freedom of speech will never be the same for all.