150,000 N. Koreans in stadium saw manager executed for starting unauthorized business
SEOUL — Pyongyang conducted an open execution on Oct. 5 attended by thousands of spectators at a stadium in Suncheon, South Pyongyang Province, according to a Buddhist organization that obtained reports from witnesses.
Open executions by the North Korean regime have been increasing this year despite criticism from the international community, said sources from "Good Neighbor," a South Korean Buddhist NGO.
The manager of a stone-processing factory had been apprehended by joint inspection teams from the National Security Command and the National Defense Committee, the sources said.
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The manager's crime was that he hid the fact that his father had been a South Korean policeman and portrayed himself as a patriot. He was also charged with investing in a non-authorized factory, making his son and daughter managers, installing 13 telephones at the basement of the factory and using three of them for international calls.
Above, North Korean residents watch a public execution in Hoeryong, North Korea.
Chosun.com
He was shot to death in the presence of the mobilized citizens.
Witnesses also said that several officers at the national security command had been purged for having taken bribes from the factory manager. Many others were said to be apprehensive about the outcome of ongoing investigations.
After the execution, six people were crushed to death and more than 30 others were injured in a stampede to leave the stadium.
A week earlier, two youths were executed in a similar manner for possessing drugs. More than ten public executions have been reported to the outside world during the second half of this year.
North Korea watchers in Seoul believe that Pyongyang is trying to restore the sense of law and order that had lapsed during the "hardship march" days.
