 Kim Jong Un during an on-site visit in May to a terrapin farm near the Taedong River in Pyongyang . Image: Rodong Sinmun |
The manager of a terrapin farm sitting near
the Taedong River has been executed following a field guidance tour from leader
Kim Jong Un in May. The official was reportedly shot to death after it was
exposed during Kim’s visit that water supplies to the tanks were inadequate,
Daily NK has learned.
According to local sources, Kim lashed out at everyone present during
the inspection, rebuking all present officials for
their failure to normalize production and calling their explanation of
electrical, water, and equipment problems as root of the issue “nonsensical
complaints.”
“The manager was shot and killed after the
Marshal (Kim Jong Un) made his field guidance tour to the terrapin farm near
Taedong River in Pyongyang,” a source in Pyongyang recently told Daily NK
in a telephone call. “He was executed because some of the tanks were not
adequately supplied with food and water, leading to the death of a lot of
terrapins.”
News of this execution was cross-checked
with two additional Daily NK sources in the capital.
“Some parts of the farm weren’t able to
receive water in a timely manner because of the lack of electricity. That fact
in conjunction with food shortages caused all the baby terrapins in the
facilities to die,” he explained. “Because it was the babies that ended up
dying and not the adult ones–had someone within the ranks tried–the manager
probably could have evaded execution.”
Still, he added that many felt it “would
have happened regardless” in order for the young leader to “set an example.”
Following a massive purge and execution of
high level officials, more Party cadres are going out of their way to express their
loyalty to Kim, according to the source, who explained that this is directly
reflected in the terrapin farm incident, whose mismanagement only came to light
because a lower ranking official reported it to the Central Party.
Upon hearing news of the farm manager’s
execution, some justifiably question how the official could have possibly kept
operations sound without a sufficient power supply, criticizing the cadres who
leaked the information.
“This is an incident wherein terrapins died
because of [no] electricity and then a person died because of the terrapins,”
he said, reflecting sentiments held by many residents.
Despite outrage over the execution bubbling
beneath the surface, the source said that people are taking extra precautions
not to land themselves in hot water, especially given that the incident
unfolded directly following an onsite visit, which featured prominently in the Party-run publication Rodong Sinmun, by Kim Jong Un.
