PYONGYANG, North Korea, Nov. 12 (UPI) — Dozens of people were executed recently in seven North Korean cities in the first known mass executions in the Kim Jong Un regime, South Korean media reported.
The executions of about 80 people occurred Nov. 3 for relatively minor infractions, such as watching South Korean movies or distributing pornographic material, Korea Joongang Daily reported Monday.
People were executed in cities such as Wonsan, Chongjin, Sariwon and Pyongsong. No one was executed in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
In Wonsan, eight people tied to stakes at a local stadium with their heads covered were shot with a machine gun, a source told Korea Joongang Daily. Witnesses said Wonsan authorities brought about 10,000 people, including children, to the stadium and forced them to watch.
Twenty musicians, including Kim’s supposed former girlfriend Hyon Song Wol, were executed by a firing squad in August for allegedly making pornographic videos.
Media reports later alleged that Kim’s wife, Ri Sol Ju, worked with the musicians before she married Kim, which has been denied. The official Korean Central News Agency said anyone who questioned North Korea’s “highest dignity” would be “mercilessly” punished.