Kim Jong Eun has apparently ordered the extension of an investigation into the so-called ‘Chief Lecturer Murder Incident’ and commanded that those found responsible be punished severely.
A Yangkang Province source reported the news to The Daily NK on the 5th, saying, “A decree has been handed down by the Youth Captain (Kim Jong Eun) to related security organs stating that the investigation period be extended through the 15th of this month, in order that remaining people related to the ‘Chief Lecturer Murder Incident’ be uncovered and severely punished.”
The murder, previously reported by North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity (NKIS), is that of the Chief Lecturer from Kim Il Sung Political University in Pyongyang, a man whose military rank matched that of a Brigadier-General in the U.S. military. He was apparently murdered with a blunt instrument on an island in the Yalu River near Mt. Baekdu in late June, but nothing of value was stolen, leading the authorities to conclude that there was a political motivation behind the case.
According to The Daily NK’s source, the North Korean authorities believe the murder was committed by spies and impure elements for the purposes of disrupting local People’s Assembly election on the 24th of last month.
The source explained that immediately after the murder incident a special investigation team was established by the central security apparatus, including members from the National Security Agency and Defense Security Command. To date, they have apparently arrested 78 people and are looking for 71 more. Of the 78, 32 have been imprisoned, while 46 still await their fate.
The investigating authorities reported the results of the investigation to Pyongyang on the 26th of last month, and what remains now is what the source says Kim Jong Eun’s order calls “Apprehending the 71 runaways and severely punishing them to pull up the roots until August 15th.”
However, the numbers involved seem to surpass those likely to be involved in the murder itself. Instead, given the scale of those swept up in the case, it appears also to be about cracking down on and punishing those involved in defections and smuggling, a conclusion lent weight by the fact that a majority of those currently implicated are from families of defectors or are defection brokers or smugglers.
