[imText1]The North Korean regime is advertising justification of ‘public execution.’
Kim Jong Il, during the Great Famine in the mid 90s, kept his regime in control by a series of public executions. Such public executions including those of even corn thieves frightened the North Korean people into complete submission. Therefore, current justification of public execution is suspected to be a sign of another reign of terror, which is to prevent inner disorder in advance.
Kim Il Sung University Bulletin’s recent edition argues that ‘public trial’ is effective in educating and disillusioning the public and the ‘trial’ encourages criminals, their families and ordinary people to follow the law.
Public trial, here, implies public execution. In other words, North Korean authorities explicitly emphasize efficiency of public execution in college education.
Former KWP secretary Hwang Jang Yop mentions in his autobiography that a number of students in Kim Il Sung University were arrested for anti-Kim Jong Il activities during the Great Famine. Thus the Bulletin’s justification of public execution suggests that there might have been agitation among the students.
Kim Jong Il during the Great Famine – “Execute two thousand per year”
During the Great Famine, residents’ illegal activities to obtain food went out of control. Illegal trespassing, murder, and robbery were everywhere.
In 1995, Korean Revolution Museum in Pyongyang was robbed and 7 of those who involved were shot. Since then, Kim Jong Il embarked on extreme public-execution politics.
Activities such as drug trafficking, production of fake dollar bills, and cutting off a telegraph line, which had not been mentioned in the law, were widespread. Therefore the authorities created an additional provision and executed those criminals en masse.
In the late 90s, North Korea is characterized by struggle between a regime that massacres its people to keep itself alive and the people desperately seeking to avoid starvation.
According to a former police officer in North Korea and defector, since 1997 the law enforcement department was ordered to execute 2,000 criminals per year. To put to death that many people, members of the prestigious Proletarian class were included and the traditional class system was disrupted.
Time to Keep Close Watch on Inside North Korea
North Korean authorities stopped public execution around 2000 in order to prevent anymore disorganization of the system. Public executions were replaced by indoor execution.
However, in March 2005, public execution of three residents in Hoiryeong County, North Hamgyung Province was known to the world angered the international society.
The Kim Jong Il regime is currently in serious trouble in its relationship with the outside because of the missile crisis and nuclear weapon development. Moreover, it is estimated that about 5000 people died of flood. According to other human rights organizations, the number of death totals 50,000.
Hence, Kim Jong Il might try to utilize public executions to threaten the people and break through the current difficult situation, as he did in the mid 90s.
International society and human rights organizations must keep close attention inside of North Korea now.
