In November 2013, North Korea executed 80 people for charges including possession of a Bible, watching South Korean television, and watching pornography. Simultaneous executions by firing squad took place in seven cities. Some of the executions were public—at one site, Shinpoong Stadium, an audience of 10,000 people, including children, watched as officials used machine guns to execute eight of the victims.
“The regime is obviously afraid of potential changes in people’s mind-sets and is preemptively trying to scare people off,” said an official of the defector-run North Korea Intellectual Solidarity website, Agence France-Presse reported.
English language accounts draw on the original reporting of South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo. This story has received attention in US corporate media, including reports on Fox News and the Los Angeles Times.
Sources:
Jessica Best, “North Korea ‘publicly executes 80 people’ for watching South Korean films and distributing pornography”, Mirror News, November 11, 2013,http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/north-korea-publicly-executes-80-2719783.
Kyodo Jiji, “North Korea ‘publicly executes’ 80”, The Japan Times, November 11, 2013, http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/11/11/asia-pacific/north-korea-holds-simultaneous-executions-of-80-in-seven-cities-report/#.Uo1kKJYo7IU.
Janna Brock, “Kim Jong-Un Publicly Executes 80 In North Korea For “Reading Bibles, Watching Television”, Freedom Outpost, November 14, 2013,http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/11/kim-jong-un-publicly-executes-80-in-north-korea-for-reading-bibles-watching-television/
Student Researcher: Rhenicia Graham (Indian River State College)
Faculty Evaluator: Elliot D. Cohen (Indian River State College)