A picture drawn by defector Jang Han-gil recreating a public execution he witnessed. The picture was created around the year 2000 while Jang was in China.
On December 19, a large number of people were mobilized to watch the execution of a young man in Hyesan, Yanggang Province. The man was killed by firing squad. A reporting partner in Hyesan provided more details. (KANG Ji-won / ISHIMARU Jiro)
◆ The man allegedly killed a businesswoman and stole grains she was transporting
According to the reporting partner, the man who was killed by firing squad was a young man in his early twenties. He was accused of beating a businesswoman to death with a rock and stealing the grains she was transporting from an agricultural village.
On the morning of December 19, local authorities alerted people through their workplaces and neighborhood watch units to unconditionally participate in a public trial. The public trial was held from 2 PM at an airport in Hyesan in front of a large number of people mobilized for the event.
Another trial was held at the same time as the execution by fire squad. The trial sentenced 12 male and female defendants on charges of attempted murder, assisting defections and smuggling, and smuggling illegal drugs to eight to ten years of reeducation (prison time).
The December 19 execution is the third time this year that a public execution has been held in Hyesan. On August 30, seven men and two women were executed for selling a cow they slaughtered. On September 25, one man was executed by firing squad for siphoning off medicine.
On December 20, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on the December 19 execution. RFA’s reporting had many similarities to the information ASIAPRESS was able to receive from its reporting partner.
※ ASIAPRESS communicates with reporting partners through Chinese cell phones smuggled into North Korea.
A map of North Korea (ASIAPRESS)
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