Killed for watching TV: North Korea executes 80 people in public 'for viewing South Korean movies and owning Bibles'



In one, people including women and children were herded into a stadium and forced to watch eight people die from machine gun fire

The executions are reported to have taken place in several cities



Several large-scale public executions of around 80 people have taken place in North Korea, according to a South Korean newspaper.

In one, woman and children were herded into a sports stadium and forced to watch people being shot dead by machine gun fire.

The executions took place on Sunday November 3, a source told the paper.



A South Korean soldier mans the border with North Korea, where reports have emerged of 80 people being publicly executed

JoongAng Ilbo could not confirm the deaths, but said its source is familiar with the internal affairs of North Korea and had recently visited the country.

Why the executions took place is difficult to ascertain, but the paper speculates that they may have been carried out to quell unrest and stop capitalist ideology from growing, as they took place in areas of recent economic growth.

Some of the deaths may also have been a punishment for the perceived crimes of watching South Korean movies, distributing pornography, using prostitutes and possessing Bibles.

North Koreans are forced to adhere to a doctrine which mixes Marxism with the worship of North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung and his descendents. Pictured are soldiers marking the 65th anniversary of the country's founding in Pyongyang

JoongAng Ilbo reported that in Wonsan, in Kangwon Province, 10,000 people were ordered into Shinpoong Stadium, and forced to watch eight people, who were tied to stakes with sacks over their heads, being killed by machine guns.

Its source said: ‘I heard from the residents that they watched in terror as the corpses were riddled by machine-gun fire that they were hard to identify afterwards.’

Other executions took place in Chongjin in North Hamgyong Province, Sariwon in North Hwanghae Province and Pyongsong in South Pyongan.

North Koreans are forced to adhere to the Juche ideology - a doctrine which mixes Marxism with the worship of North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung and his descendents.

But for the past seven years, a Colorado-based preacher, Pastor Foley, and his supporters have been been releasing hydrogen balloons carrying bundles of Bibles into North Korea.

Last year, they dropped an estimated 50,000 Bibles into the country.