public execution

 

 

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/13/asia/north-korea-executes-defense-chief/index.html

 

 

North Korea has publicly executed the country's defense minister after the regime accused him of treason(반역죄), according to reports from South Korea.

 

Hyon Yong Chol was killed by fire from an anti-aircraft gun at a military school in front of hundreds of people in Pyongyang, the South Korean Intelligence Agency was reported to have told parliament members in a closed door session.

 

Hyon was executed because he expressed discontent(불만) towards leader Kim Jong Un, and failed to follow Kim's orders on several occasions, according to Kim Gwang-lim, chairman of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee and a lawmaker with the Saenuri Party who attended the briefing.

 

 

What led to execution?

 

The timing of Hyon's execution is unclear. Reports suggest he was killed "around April 30." The last mention of Hyon in North Korean state media was on Wednesday, April 29, when he was reported to have attended a performance of the Moranbong Band at the People's Palace of Culture, earlier that week.

Lawmaker Kim Gwang-lim said the South Korean spy agency said that Hyon was executed without trial within two to three days of being arrested. If the dates are correct, they suggest Hyon's fall from grace(신임을 잃다) was swift and decisive.

 

Just last month, Hyon led a North Korean delegation to Moscow for a seminar on global security.

Kim himself had been scheduled to go to mark Victory Day commemorations on May 9. However, in late April, Russian officials announced that he had pulled out to attend to "domestic issues" at home.

 

No single incident was said to have led to Hyon's arrest and execution, although Kim Gwang-lim said, along with general neglect of duty, Hyon was seen nodding off during a meeting organized by Kim Jong Un.

 

A spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry said the government considered the execution to be another display of "fear politics" in North Korea.

 

"Our government views that the purge(제거하다) is promoting the solidification(단결) of the only monolithic leadership of Kim Jong Un by creating atmosphere of fear," said Lim Byeong-cheol.

 

 

Defector: Kim to go in three years

 

One of the most senior defectors to escape North Korea in recent years has told CNN that the spate of top-level executions has created a climate of fear among regime insiders.

 

"During his first three years in power, hundreds of the elite have been executed," said Park, who CNN has agreed not to identify to protect his friends and relatives still in Pyongyang. Much of what Park tells us cannot be independently verified, as North Korea is one of the most closed and repressive(억압적인) countries on Earth.

 

Park said Kim's brutality had undermined(기반을 약화시키다) his power base, and predicted he would be replaced as leader within three years.

 

The prospect of potential instability in North Korea worries experts who are concerned about the country's nuclear weapons.

 

"There are quite a number -- at least a dozen -- nuclear weapons," said Armstrong of Columbia University. "We want to make sure we know who's in control of them."

 

Armstrong said Kim differed from his father and grandfather, who in past purges merely(단지,그저) pushed people aside.

 

"Kim Jong Un has shown a ruthless side that we haven't seen since his grandfather consolidated power back in the 50s and 60s -- going after rivals and potential rivals and having them executed."

 

He said the structure of the North Korean political system made it difficult to mount any kind of challenge to Kim's leadership -- but "anything is possible."

 

"Particularly when we see these high-ranking people (like Hyon) bumped off like this. There might be a group who feel that they're better off(형편이 더 나은) under a different leadership," Armstrong said.