A man in his 40s was sentenced to 10 years in prison early this year for attempting to murder a 19 year-old woman with whom he was having an affair in Onsong County, North Hamgyong Province, North Korean sources report.
“A public trial was held in front of the cultural center behind the cigarette factory in Changpyong-ri, Onsong County, on June 4 with local residents and workers present,” a source based in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK. “Three people who attempted to defect and a man accused of attempted murder were all on trial.”
The suspect tried for attempted murder was a tractor driver who worked at the local agricultural mechanical work unit. He was tried on charges of attempted murder of a 19- year-old girl with whom he had been having an extramarital affair.
The victim, a 19-year-old recent high school graduate, lived in the same town as the accused. Her family found out about the relationship and forbid them from meeting.
“He decided to kill the girl after finding out that the family was trying to set her up with someone to marry,” a separate source in North Hamgyong Province with knowledge of the case told Daily NK.
“He gave her a drink laced with poison to drink after inviting her to his house for a final goodbye. Her family raced her to the hospital after she complained of stomach pains but luckily she survived. The man was immediately arrested by local law enforcement officials.”
While the case in question is extreme, the source asserted that, generally speaking, “extramarital affairs are common among both men and women in North Korea.”
According to the sources, the three people who attempted to defect across to China as part of a scheme to earn some money before returning home were given six months in a forced labor facility.
