North Korean man-child Kim Jung Un had his ex-girlfriend and 11 female performers arrested for violating pornography laws nine days ago. Their punishment? Death by firing squad.
Hyon Song-wol, a singer with the Unhasu Orchestra, was arrested on August 17 along with 11 other popular North Korean performers, UK’s The Telegraph reports. All 12 women were executed by machine gun fire 3 days later.
An expert on North Korean foreign affairs theorizes that Hyon was executed because Jung-Un’s current wife was jealous of her.
The Telegraph reports that other members of Hyon’s band, the Unhasu Orchestra and their immediate families were forced to watch the executions. The witnesses were then herded into prison camps and charged with guilt by association.
The newspaper reports that the performers made videos of themselves performing sex acts and then sold the videos for profit.
“They were executed with machine guns while the key members of the Unhasu Orchestra, Wangjaesan Light Band and Moranbong Band as well as the families of the victims looked on,” a Chinese source told the newspaper.
Some of the musicians were carrying bibles when they were detained. They were also being treated as political dissidents.
Jung-Un met his ex-girlfriend 10 years ago and struck up a relationship with her. His father, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, ordered his son to end the relationship. Hyon then married a military officer in the North Korean army and the couple had a baby together. Reports are that Jung-Un and Hyon continued to see each other after she was married.
Jung-Un became leader of North Korea after his father’s death in December 2011. Jung-Un married his wife, Ri Sol-ju, who was also a member of the Unhasu Orchestra. Ri Sol-ju reportedly despised Hyon for her high profile with the band.
An expert on North Korean affairs told The Telegraph he believes Hyon and the others were executed for “political reasons.”
“Or, as Kim’s wife once belonged to the same group, it is possible that these executions are more about Kim’s wife,” said Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Tokyo’s Waseda University.
