Kim Jong-un's reign of terror intensifying

By YI Whan-woo

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s reign of terror is gaining attention again as South Korean intelligence reports claim that he was behind the murder of his elder brother Kim Jong-nam in Malaysia, Monday.

The young dictator, who is believed to be aged 33, has killed at least 100 officials since he seized power in December 2011 following the sudden death of his father Kim Jong-il.

The victims vary from senior members of the Workers’ Party and key bureaucrats to top military officers. They also include Kim’s uncle Jang Song-thaek, who was once the second-most powerful man in North Korea. He was killed in December 2013.

Kim’s bloody rule has exceeded that of Kim Jong-il, according to Seoul government officials, Wednesday. They cited that the number of North Koreans executed during the first three-and-a-half years of his rule was about 70, while Kim Jong-il killed about 10 people over the same time period after he became the country’s leader.

They also cited that the young despot, who has sought to consolidate his leadership, has been executing his aides for “petty reasons.”

For instance, former North Korean Defense Minister Hyon Yong-chol was convicted of treason and killed in April 2015 for falling asleep during an event attended by Kim.

Former North Korean officials who have defected to South Korea testified that the young despot has been developing brutal forms of executions, such as shooting the victims to death with an anti-aircraft machine gun and bulldozing their dead bodies, which were already torn apart into many pieces.

“It was something that you can’t dare to look at with your eyes wide open,” a witness, only identified by his last name Ri, said. “The brutal killing of the people using an anti-aircraft machine gun was unprecedented in North Korean history and has only been witnessed in the Kim Jong-un era. You will hardly confront Kim once you see an execution.”

A former member of the Workers’ Party, who is only identified by his last name Kim, said the execution using an anti-aircraft machine gun was seen first when a top commander at the People’s Army was killed for drinking during the mourning period for the late Kim Jong-il.

He said the sense of fear felt on the sites of execution “is more than one can imagine,” claiming he was there several times, such as at the killing of Hyon and Jang Su-gil, one of Jang Song-thaek’s two trusted deputies. The other was Ri Ryong-ha.

Both Jang Su-gil and Ri were killed with an anti-aircraft machine gun. Hundreds of officials were from the administrative department of the Workers’ Party were forcibly gathered to witness their executions in late 2013.

Hyon was also executed by an anti-aircraft machine gun before students of the Gang Gun Military Academy in a Pyongyang suburb. This is where Jang Song-thaek was killed.

“In case of Jang Su-gil, his dead body was literally gone after a tank ran over it,” the witness said.

He added high-ranking officials were often banned from watching the execution and were informed about the atmosphere of the brutal scene later.

“Listening to descriptions concerning the execution can raise one’s fear more than watching it with one’s own eyes, and that’s what Kim Jong-un may have intended,” he said.