North Korea publicly executes two officials - according to South Korean newspaper - Polidicks

[QUOTE]SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea publicly executed two officials in early August for disobeying leader Kim Jong Un, a South Korean newspaper reported on Tuesday, in what would be the latest in a series of high-level purges under the young leader's rule, if confirmed.Kim took power in 2011 after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, and his consolidation of power has included purges and executions of top officials, South Korean officials have said. Citing an unidentified source familiar with the North, the JoongAng Ilbo daily said former agriculture minister Hwang Min and Ri Yong Jin, a senior official at the education ministry, had been executed. The report could not be independently verified, and South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles North Korea-related matters, did not have immediate comment. Some previous media reports of executions and purges in the reclusive state later proved inaccurate. The report of the executions comes soon after the South said North Korea's deputy ambassador in London had defected and arrived in the South with his family, dealing an embarrassing blow to Kim's regime. North Korea rarely announces purges or executions, although state media confirmed execution of Kim's uncle and the man widely considered the second most powerful man in the country, Jang Song Thaek, in 2012 for factionalism and crimes damaging to the economy. A former defence minister, Hyun Yong Chol, is also believed to have been executed last year for treason, according to the South's spy agency. The JoongAng Ilbo said the two men were executed by anti-aircraft gun at a military academy in Pyongyang. North Korean state media described Hwang, one of the officials named, as agriculture minister in 2012, and referred to him as a vice minister of agriculture in 2014.[/QUOTE] [url]https://sg.news.yahoo.com/north-korea-publicly-executes-two-officials-south-korean-030212375.html[/url] Take it with a heavy pinch of salt. Its a waste of ammunition to use a bloody AA gun to execute someone

I've grown fairly skeptical of any biased news towards North Korea these days. People joke about Kim Jong Un's dog-feeding frenzies and how North Korea is essentially a wasteland, but that's just the brainwashing coming back towards us. Knowing this, it's likely another badly written smear article by some SK tabloid with a grudge against NK. I'm not saying that whatever is happening in NK is flowers and cookies, but our willingness to dismiss it because "ol crazy Kim is back at it again" just reflects how deep we've waded into the propaganda.

Wasn't there an instance of this previously, which turned out to be completely false, when the people allegedly executed were found to be alive?

[QUOTE=Gishank;50973660]Wasn't there an instance of this previously, which turned out to be completely false, when the people allegedly executed were found to be alive?[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=The Article]The report could not be independently verified, and South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles North Korea-related matters, did not have immediate comment. Some previous media reports of executions and purges in the reclusive state later proved inaccurate.[/QUOTE] there ya go

I hear that the fully story is they feed the dead bodies to little puppies, then they kill the puppies and force the family to eat them. Then they blow them up with an AA gun.

[QUOTE=AntonioR;50973760]I hear that the fully story is they feed the dead bodies to little puppies, then they kill the puppies and force the family to eat them. Then they blow them up with an AA gun.[/QUOTE] I don't know why this made me burst out laughing [editline]30th August 2016[/editline] Just the idea of zooming out the camera for each of the three over the top death scenes is killing me

[QUOTE=aznz888;50973700]there ya go[/QUOTE] It's a black hole of information so anyone that reads these reports without a good idea of how inaccurate they are likely to be is doing themselves a disservice.

[QUOTE=AntonioR;50973760]I hear that the fully story is they feed the dead bodies to little puppies, then they kill the puppies and force the family to eat them. Then they blow them up with an AA gun.[/QUOTE] Sounds like something I'd see in a Team America sequel

[QUOTE=aznz888;50973621]I've grown fairly skeptical of any biased news towards North Korea these days. People joke about Kim Jong Un's dog-feeding frenzies and how North Korea is essentially a wasteland, but that's just the brainwashing coming back towards us. Knowing this, it's likely another badly written smear article by some SK tabloid with a grudge against NK. I'm not saying that whatever is happening in NK is flowers and cookies, but our willingness to dismiss it because "ol crazy Kim is back at it again" just reflects how deep we've waded into the propaganda.[/QUOTE] Regardless of this specific issue, there are mountains of evidence that that country is a shit show. Escaped north Koreans, documentaries, and the satellite photos of the county show that it's truly a terrible place to be. I have no hesitation believing they would publicly execute people, maybe not by AA guns, but still...

[QUOTE=aznz888;50973621] by some SK tabloid with a grudge against NK. [/QUOTE] Gee I wonder why

[QUOTE=aznz888;50973621]I've grown fairly skeptical of any biased news towards North Korea these days. People joke about Kim Jong Un's dog-feeding frenzies and how North Korea is essentially a wasteland, but that's just the brainwashing coming back towards us. Knowing this, it's likely another badly written smear article by some SK tabloid with a grudge against NK. I'm not saying that whatever is happening in NK is flowers and cookies, but our willingness to dismiss it because "ol crazy Kim is back at it again" just reflects how deep we've waded into the propaganda.[/QUOTE] North Korea is still basically the worst country on earth, make no doubt about it. The dog thing was not propaganda, but a mistranslation of a Chinese blogger facetiously saying that a general had been fed to dogs, which either South Korean or American news sources mistook for a Chinese journalist reporting this as fact. As for execution method, I can't say. North Korean refugees have reported pretty heinous ways of executing ideological traitors. Yeonmi Park says that they were tied to a post and fill with bullets until their ropes were shot off, leaving a totally mangled corpse. Eunsoo Kim says that after seeing a man shot in the head, his brains were fed to a psychopath. Hyeonseo Lee says that when she was a child, they just straight up hung people. These executions could be for something as simple as watching a Hollywood movie, or stealing food from the government. Kim Jong Un has also recently been purging his father's generation of government officials. They want more reliance on China, while KJU wants to be more independent, focusing on North Korea. Kim Jong Il was completely reliant on China and foreign currency operations as he was a totally incompetent leader who never imagined a world without the Soviet Union. He was sort of a playboy in the 80s, who liked to party, and fancied himself a filmmaker, not a politician. All Kim Jong-il wanted to do was use the government of North Korea to finance his lifestyle, at the cost of millions of lives throughout the 1990s. Kim Jong Un, however, is like Stalin. He wants power. He believes he has divine mandate to rule, and his father's generation was hoping to open North Korea up more. This threatens Kim Jong-Un. So, recently, he held a "party congress" for the first time in like, 30 years (his grandfather was still in power the last time they had this). Basically, it's a big convention where they all get together and talk about how great socialism is, and decide on the "platform" for the future. In reality, this is an event where Kim Jong-Un gives a golden parachute to generals who threaten him, but are still powerful enough that he doesn't want to threaten. That uncle, the one that was claimed to have been fed to dogs? He was executed because there was a power struggle. Troops loyal to Kim Jong-un and troops loyal to the uncle had an actual firefight over ownership of a factory, or a farm or something. Factions exist in North Korea, and the military may answer ideologically to Kim Jong-un, but they all have commanding officers and loyalties, too. Kim Jong-un is paranoid of this, hence the recent purges. Remember the NK KGB officer that defected a month or so ago? He probably saw the writing on the wall and learned the lessons of Lavrentiy Beria, so he got the fuck out. [editline]30th August 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=parsley;50973772]It's a black hole of information so anyone that reads these reports without a good idea of how inaccurate they are likely to be is doing themselves a disservice.[/QUOTE] North Korea is not an absolute black hole. Smugglers go in and out of North Korea all the time. Bribery is institutionalized in North Korea. State doctrine can often be overridden with money. As Yeonmi Park said: [I]When you're hungry all the time, all you can think of is food[/I]

If purges are happening the media would not know until at least 5 years later. NK will not confirm or deny what they're doing

[QUOTE=Glitchman;50974861]Regardless of this specific issue, there are mountains of evidence that that country is a shit show. Escaped north Koreans, documentaries, and the satellite photos of the county show that it's truly a terrible place to be. I have no hesitation believing they would publicly execute people, maybe not by AA guns, but still...[/QUOTE] Public executions are common, yes. From what I understand things like this come in waves. While a black market exists in North Korea which has become almost essential for North Koreans to survive, the government cracks down on these people in waves, and the only way to survive is to hope you're out of the way when the boot comes down. Many people escape to China, and the story of their lives in China is even sadder in a way. If you're interested in the lives of ordinary North Koreans, I suggest reading: Nothing to Envy, by Barbara Demick In Order to Live, by Yeonmi Park The Girl With Seven Names, by Hyeonseo Lee 1000 Miles to Freedom, by Eunsoo Kim and to watch this, as well [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufhKWfPSQOw[/media] [editline]30th August 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=fruxodaily;50975390]If purges are happening the media would not know until at least 5 years later. NK will not confirm or deny what they're doing[/QUOTE] This is also not true. North Korea is not the black hole you think it is. There is regular travel to and from between North Korea and China, as well as some from Russia. High up officials defect as well, giving us insight into the upper echelon of Korea. There are smugglers who work for organizations like [url]http://nkinusa.org/[/url] , [url]http://libertyinnorthkorea.org/[/url] , and the Catholic Church which bring people like Yeonmi Park out who can tell the world about the shit they see. [editline]30th August 2016[/editline] Other than executions, if you commit ideological crimes, the government will send you, your family, and everyone for 3 generations to a labor camp, in which people live in conditions comparable to Auschwitz. Under Kim Jong-un, these camps have expanded, by the way