Did this really happen?
A blackhawk crashed during a planned joint exercise between the US and South Korea on the North Korean border all 12 crew survived.
So in a nutshell, yes
The new man in Pyongyang enforcing a tough moral code of conduct.
[SIZE=5]Kim Jong-unâs ex-girlfriend was among a dozen well-known North Korean performers who were executed by firing squad nine days ago, according to South Korean reports.[/SIZE]
Hyon Song-wol, a singer, rumoured to be a former lover of the North Korean leader, is said to have been arrested on Aug 17 with 11 others for violating laws against pornography.
The reports in South Koreaâs Chosun Ilbo newspaper indicate that Hyon, a singer with the Unhasu Orchestra, was among those arrested on August 17 for violating domestic laws on pornography.
All 12 were machine-gunned three days later, with other members of North Koreaâs most famous pop groups and their immediate families forced to watch. The onlookers were then sent to prison camps, victims of the regimeâs assumption of guilt by association, the reports stated.
âThey were executed with machine guns while the key members of the Unhasu Orchestra, Wangjaesan Light Band and Moranbong Band as well as the families of the victims looked on,â said a Chinese source reported in the newspaper.
Hyonâs band was responsible for a string of patriotic hits in North Korea, including âFootsteps of Soldiers,â âI Love Pyongyang,â âShe is a Discharged Soldierâ and âWe are Troops of the Party.â Her popularity reportedly peaked in 2005 with the song âExcellent Horse-Like Lady.â
The 12 who were executed were singers, musicians or dancers with the Hyonâs band, the Unhasu Orchestra or the Wanghaesan Light Music Band and were accused of making videos of themselves performing sex acts and then selling the recordings.
The reports stated that both groups have been disbanded as a result of the scandal.
Some of the musicians were also found to have bibles when they were detained and all were treated as political dissidents.
Kim Jong-un, who became leader of North Korea after the sudden death of his father in December 2011, is believed to have met Hyon about 10 years ago and struck up a relationship.
His father, Kim Jong-il, did not approve of the relationship and ordered him to break it off. Hyon subsequently married an officer in the North Korean military and reportedly had a baby, although there are suggestions that Hyon continued to see Kim after her marriage.
Kimâs wife, Ri Sol-ju, was also a member of the Unhasu Orchestra before marriage and one theory is that Ri objected to the continuing high profile of her husbandâs former girlfriend.
North Koreaâs Communist dictator reportedly purged his own step-mother, Kim Ok, from her post as a senior official in the Workersâ Party Finance and Accounting Department as he sought to tighten his grip on power within the country.
She was luckier than Kim Chol, vice minister of the army, who was executed with a mortar round in October 2012.
Kim Chol was reportedly executed for drinking and carousing during the official mourning period after Kim Jong-ilâs death.
On the explicit orders of Kim Jong-un to leave âno trace of him behind, down to his hair,â according to South Korean media, Kim Chol was forced to stand on a spot that had been zeroed in for a mortar round and âobliterated.â
An expert on North Korean affairs believes the singer was executed for âpolitical reasons.â
âIf these people had only made pornographic videos, then it is simply not believable that their punishment was execution,â Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Tokyoâs Waseda University and an authority on North Korean affairs, told The Daily Telegraph.
"They could have been made to disappear into the prison system there instead.
âThere is a political reason behind this,â he said, suggesting that the groups may have been leaning towards a rival faction in Pyongyangâs shadowy political world.
âOr, as Kimâs wife once belonged to the same group, it is possible that these executions are more about Kimâs wife,â Professor Shigemura added.
Dramatic developments in the Democratic Republic with the execution of Kim Jung-unâs uncle and mentor Chang Song-thaek for crimes of disloyalty and insurrection.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants
Denis Rodman is to take his place
Why do dictatorships use the âDemocratic Republicâ moniker
East Germany was at the same malarkey as I think did Romania.
Ah the North KoreansâŚa great bunch of lads.
Article in one of the English newspapers this year about the department stores in North Korea and the staff and shoppers all being fake - actors - not shopping and shop not set up to sell anything - goods on display for effect to show they had a thriving economy - Truman show esque on a national scale
Something similar with restaurants and food being brought out and then taken away
Was just listening to some guy on the Sean OâRourke show there, talking about the executons in North Korea since Kim Jong Un took over from the old man. The guy anyway was talking about the General that was excuted because he was caught drinking during the funeral of Kim Jong II. To execute this general the made him stand on the spot and then fired an artillery shell to land on the spot he was standing on. I thought that was a bit harsh.
More cruel and unusual I would say to to do it while they made him stand on some form of sport, I hope it wasnt the javelin.
Thank you MBB for picking out the spelling mistake. how is the cock sucking going?
They have the largest football stadium in the world I believe? 120,000 capacity or something.
150,000 I believe. They could host a Rugby World Cup with that sort of capacity.
Apologies, Sid is indeed correct - 150,000.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/gallery/2013/dec/10/worlds-10-largest-football-stadiums-gallery
[quote=âMac, post: 873407, member: 109â]Apologies, Sid is indeed correct - 150,000.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/gallery/2013/dec/10/worlds-10-largest-football-stadiums-gallery[/quote]
I was going to rate your post dumb, but it wanât dumb, just boring and inconsequential and I couldnât find a rating to show my indifference to your earlier post - hence the emoticon
That was deliberate, given the 2 posts that went before it. A more appropriate image would have been that boring priest from Fr Ted.
Fuck off to Russia.
He got jeagerbombed