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Sun, July 3, 2022 | 15:26
Alleged NK police document reports case of cannibalism
'北 경비원 동료 인육먹고, 속여팔다 적발'
Posted : 2011-06-20 11:35
Updated : 2011-06-20 11:35
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An alleged North Korean police document reported a case of cannibalism, a South Korean missionary group said Monday, a development, if confirmed, that could support what has long been rumored in the North.

There have been accounts among some defectors of eating human flesh amid chronic food shortages that culminated in a massive famine in the late 1990s that was estimated to have killed 2 million people.

The North has since relied on international handouts to feed its 24 million people.
The North's police released a 791-page report in 2009 to give guidance on how to deal with criminals, and its preface said the report was based on previous events and possible circumstances.

The report, later obtained by South Korea's Caleb Mission, provided a rare look into the alleged cannibalism and other crimes, but it did not say whether cannibalism has become a widespread practice.

In one account, a male guard who could not bear his hunger killed his colleague using an ax, ate some of the human flesh and sold the remainder in the market by disguising it as mutton, the report said, without giving any further details such as when the alleged crime occurred.

Kookmin Daily, a local newspaper that first reported the case, said there were four more crimes related to cannibalism in the North's police report, but no details were given.

A North Korean defector also claimed that he witnessed the public execution of a North Korean man charged with selling human flesh in the market around 1997.
"There were many cases" of cannibalism at that time, the defector said in a phone interview with Yonhap News Agency. He asked not to be identified, citing safety concerns for his family.

Chun Hae-sung, a spokesman for the Unification Ministry handling inter-Korean affairs, told reporters that it's not appropriate for the government to either confirm or mention the alleged cannibalism. He also said it is difficult determine the authenticity of the report, which his ministry plans to obtain for analysis.

The report also mentioned the black market of CDs containing South Korean films in a sign of South Korean culture's prevalent popularity inside the isolated country.
(Yonhap)

'北 경비원 동료 인육먹고, 속여팔다 적발'
“북한에서는 인육(人肉)을 식용으로 먹는다. 마약·위폐 사건이 만연해 있다….” 그동안 북한전문매체들이 내부 소식통들을 인용해 하나 둘 전한 북한 내의 믿기 어려운 사건·사고들이 실제로 존재했을 가능성이 매우 크다고 국민일보가 19일 보도했다. 신문은 북한 인민보안성(우리의 경찰청 격)이 발간한 ‘법투쟁부문 일꾼들을 위한 참고서(이하 참고서)’를 갈렙선교회를 통해 지난달 17일 입수, 보도했다. 2009년 6월 발행된 이 참고서는 총 721개 예시 사건에 대한 내용을 구체적으로 열거하고 이에 대한 처벌을 어떻게 할지를 밝히고 있다. 관심 끄는 대목은 ‘예시 사건’들 내용. 참고서엔 예시 사건들에 대해 “인민보안사업 과정에서 실재한 사건·사정들과 있을 수 있는 정황들에 기초했다”고 명시했다. 이는 실제 일어난 사건·사고와 일어날 가능성이 높은 사건·사고를 아울러 예로 들어 설명했다는 의미지만, 실제 예시 사건의 내용과 수치 등이 극히 구체적이라 대부분이 실재했던 사건을 예로 들었을 개연성이 매우 크다고 국민일보는 분석했다. 예컨대 참고서엔 인육과 관련된 범죄 사건이 5건 포함된 것으로 알려졌다. 공장 합숙소에 살면서 경비원으로 일하던 이만성이란 인물은 같은 합숙소에 살던 한남호라는 인물이 잠들었을 때 도끼로 살해했고, 시신 중 일부는 식용으로 먹고 나머지는 시장에서 양고기로 둔갑시켜 팔았다는 내용도 들어있다. 참고서엔 남한에서 들여온 CD·DVD를 유통하다 적발된 사례나 장마당 상인을 단속 나온 공안기관에 집단 난동을 부린 사례 등도 들어있어 북한의 식량난과 남한 등의 외부 정보 침투가 실재하는 것으로 판단된다고 이 신문은 보도했다. 북한 당국이 이 참고서를 만든 이유는 체제 위협 범죄가 증가하는데다 지방별 처벌 수위가 다르다는 불만이 쏟아졌기 때문이라는 분석이다. 이에 북한 당국이 구체적인 처벌 지침을 예시 사건과 함께 참고서에 명시, 전국 인민보안부서(경찰서)에 내려 보낸 것이라고 이 신문은 전했다. 국민일보는 “북한 주민의 생활상이 북한 정부의 공식 자료를 통해 확인된 것은 이번이 처음”이라며 “앞으로 북한 인권법 제정을 둘러싼 논란도 커질 전망”이라고 보도했다.
 
LG
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