A North Korean man has been executed by firing squad in front of 500 people for illegally selling music and films, it is reported.
Authorities branded the man, whose surname is Lee, as an “anti-socialist element” for trading the videos that included dramas and movies from South Korea and he was killed last Thursday, a Daily NK source said.
His family were forced to stand in the front row of the crowd of 500 people to see the execution in Wonsan, Gangwon province – 40 days after he was arrested.
Lee, was a chief engineer at the Wonsan Farming Management Commission and he was caught by the daughter of his “people’s unit” leader while secretly selling CDs and USBs with the South Korean content.
“This was the first execution in Gangwon Province for anti-socialist acts under the anti-reactionary thought law,” the cruel North Korean authorities reportedly ruled on Lee.
(Image: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Image)
“In the past, [people like Lee] were sent to labour or re-education camps. It would be a grave error to believe that you will receive light punishment. Such reactionary behaviour helps people who are attempting to destroy our socialism.
“Reactionaries should not be allowed to live without fear in our society.”
After the authorities recited the guilty verdict, the sound of twelve shots rang out before Lee’s “lifeless body was rolled into a straw sack and loaded into a box, and then taken somewhere,” the Daily NK source said.
(Image: Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
They continued: “Lee’s wife, son, and daughter collapsed where they were standing in the front row of the execution area. While everyone watched, ministry of state security officials picked them up and loaded them into a cargo truck with barred windows for transport to a political prisoner camp.
“The family’s neighbours burst into tears when they saw the four security guards picking up Lee’s collapsed wife and throwing her [into the van] like a piece of luggage, but they had to clamp their mouths shut and weep in silence for fear of being caught in the criminal act of having compassion for a reactionary.”
Lee reportedly confessed to selling the material and authorities are now hunting down who bought them from him with the CDs and USBs believed to have been sold for between five and 12 dollars.
(Image: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Image)
There are now around a further 20 others accused of also selling South Korean music and films and they are in the process of being prosecuted.
Execution for anti-socialist behaviour was brought in by an “anti-reactionary thought law” last year.
“Nowadays, if you are caught watching a South Korean video, you receive a sentence of either life in prison or death, so nobody knows who will be executed next,” the source said.
“You can receive a seven-year sentence just for not reporting someone. The entire population is shaking with fear.”