Juche Justice

Another day, another story of unmitigated evil from Kim Jong-Il's Hermit Kingdom. According to a report in the Daily Mail, North Korea's Stalinist regime publicly executed an un-Juche factory worker for making counter-revolutionary international phone calls. On paper, the regime outlawed public executions in 2000, though as CNN's undercover cameras documented in this stunning documentary, stadium-filling executions, many of the for the use of cell phones smuggled in from China, continue apace. From the Mail:

A North Korean factory boss accused of making international phone calls was executed by a firing squad in front of 150,000 people, it emerged today. The manager was gunned down in a sports stadium in South Pyongan province after authorities claimed he'd installed (sic) 13 in a basement to reach the outside world, the Good Friends aid agency revealed.

And six people were also crushed to death and 34 others injured in an apparent stampede as they left after the execution, it was claimed.

For those interested in regular reports from North Korea's network of dissident journalists, check out the indispensable the DailyNK website. And yes, Wikipedia is correct: I was banned from North Korea due to my "insulting marketing" against leaders both Dear and Great.

I noted a previous North Korean public execution (again, for using a cell phone) a few months back, which includes a gruesome video clip from the CNN documentary mentioned above.