North Korea denies Kim Jong-un executed mistress to protect wife
North Korea has angrily denied reports that Kim Jong-un ordered the execution of a former mistress in August to protect the "dignity" of his wife.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un making another inspection visit to the construction site of the Munsu Swimming Complex in Pyongyang today, as North Korea has angrily denied reports that he ordered the execution of a former mistress in August to protect the "dignity" of his wife Photo: REUTERS
By Julian Ryall, Tokyo
2:23PM BST 23 Sep 2013
The denunciations in state media said "reptile media" were making allegations designed to "hurt the dignity" of Mr Kim, his wife, Ri Sol-ju, and the regime.
The state-run KCNA news agency claimed the reports were the work of "psychopaths" and "confrontation maniacs" in South Korea's government and the media.
"This is an unpardonable, hideous provocation hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership," KCNA stated. "Those who commit such a hideous crime ... will have to pay a very high price."
Reports in South Korea initially claimed that Hyon Song-wol, with whom Mr Kim was romantically linked around 10 years ago, was among a dozen well-known North Korean singers and musicians executed by firing squad on August 20 after appearing in pornographic videos.
Relatives of the condemned musicians and other members of the Unhasu Orchestra, the Wangjaesan Light Band and the Moranbong Band were forced to watch the executions before being sent to labour camps.
Mr Kim's wife was a member of the Unhasu Orchestra before marrying the North Korean leader in June 2012.
The tale has taken a new twist however, with Japan's Asahi newspaper reporting that a high-ranking North Korean government official has recently defected to South Korea and confirmed the reports.
The unnamed defector said officials of the Ministry of People's Security tapped the phones of nine members of the bands and recorded one of the singers saying: "In the past Ri Sol-ju used to play around in the same manner as we did."
Worried that salacious rumours about his wife would spread, Mr Kim reportedly ordered the arrests on August 17. Three days later, the defector said the executions were carried out on the training ground at the Kang Gon Military Academy, on the outskirts of Pyongyang.
North Korea has reacted with fury to the reports in the Japanese media, which were quickly repeated in South Korean newspapers. The North made no public comment when Western media first reported on the executions in August and there has still be no effort to deny that the executions were carried out.
On Saturday, North Korea cancelled plans to hold reunion meetings for families separated since the end of the Korean War in 1953. The reason cited for Pyongyang's decision to halt the reunions was given as the provocation, hostility and slander from South Korea.
Ri Sol-ju, who gave birth to a daughter in late 2012, has not been seen in public for at least two weeks.
