A North Korean firing squad last week executed a former girlfriend of leader Kim Jong-un and 11 other entertainers for allegedly violating laws banning pornography - at least according to a South Korean newspaper.

The report by Chosun Ilbo, an English-language newspaper of a Seoul media conglomerate, published on Thursday deemed the reported August 20 executions a death blow to expectations that Mr Kim would oversee a transition of his isolated and tyrannised people into a more open era.

Like many stories out of the Hermit Kingdom, the reports remain unconfirmed and are based on unnamed sources.

In this episode, among the dozen performers shot to death while their families and former band members were forced to watch was Hyon Song-wol, a singer Mr Kim reportedly courted a decade ago but was forced to abandon by his dictatorial father, Kim Jong-il.