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Eighty people have been publicly executed in cities across North Korea for "minor transgressions" including watching South Korean films and distributing pornography, according to reports.

South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo quotes a source who said the first large-scale public executions under ruler Kim Jong-Un happened last Sunday.

Around 10 people were killed in seven different cities. During one of the execution sessions, eight people were tied to stakes in a local stadium and shot with a machine gun in front of 10,000 people - including children.

The victims of those killings in the city of Wonson, in the country's Kangwon province, were said to have been accused of watching and illegally trafficking South Korean videos, possessing a bible, or being involved in prostitution.

Any accomplices or family members of the accused alleged to have been involved in their crimes were sent on to prison camps.

The executions come three months after it was reported Kim Jong-Un's regime had killed 12 well-known North Korean performers, including the despot's ex-lover Hyon Song-wol.

They are said to have been accused of filming themselves having sex and selling the material.