North Korea continued public executions in isolated areas under the Kim Jong-un regime, in an apparent strategic move to prevent the leakage of internal information and avoid international surveillance., according to a report from a non-governmental human rights organization.
The Working Group on Transitional Justice (TJWG), based in Seoul, released the report on Wednesday “Mapping murders under Kim Jong-un: North Korea’s response to international pressure”, based on interviews with hundreds of North Koreans who escaped the regime and analyzes of satellite images conducted since 2015.
The TJWG found differences in the patterns of public executions during the Kim Jong-un era focusing on examining the city of Hyesan, on the border with China, which is relatively more exposed to the outside world due to its geographical location.
The main difference is that the Kim Jong-un regime carried out most of the public executions in isolated and inconspicuous places, far from the border and the central area of the city. The locations of the public executions include Hyesan Airfield and nearby hills, mountains, open terrain and fields, according to the report citing the outlet. The Korea Herald.
The testimonies of North Korean defectors also suggest that public executions were not carried out in downtown Hyesan or near the Chinese border during the Kim Jong-un era, as opposed to the previous period.
The report highlights that the number of places used primarily for public executions in Hyesan declined under the Kim Jong-un regime.
The TJWG argues that the pattern change could be Pyongyang’s response to criticism from the international community and a strategic move. The Kim Jong-un regime chose places of public execution where it could easily control attendees and block leaks of information, including video footage.
“One of the explanations could be that North Korea is strategically selecting execution venues where it is easiest to avoid potential leaks of information”Said the human rights group.
“This change of location may provide an explanation for how state action is being influenced by scrutiny from the international community”He added, according to The Korea Herald.
The Kim Jong-un regime has also tightened surveillance and control over North Koreans forced to witness public executions with various measures.
The TJWG asserted that North Korean leaders have consistently continued state-sanctioned killings involving the Ministry of State Security, the Ministry of Social Security and the Defense Security Command.
According to the report, Kim Jong-un’s regime appears to be more sensitive to North Korea’s human rights issues, as the international community has stepped up surveillance and raised concerns about violations in the country, including inhumane treatment and punishment.
“Our conclusions suggest that the Kim Jong-un regime is paying more attention to human rights issues in response to increased international scrutiny on the seriousness of the situation in North Korea“, He said Park ah-yeong, lead author of the report, according to The Korea Herald.
“This does not mean that the human rights situation in North Korea is improving; state-led killings continue to occur in ways that may not be as visible to the public as in the past”He added.
The TJWG reiterated that the Kim Jong-un regime’s eagerness to avoid surveillance and scrutiny by the international community raised the need to pay more attention to secret executions that take place behind closed doors.
The testimonies of North Korean defectors also suggest that the number of public executions has decreasedwhile Pyongyang has continued to secretly kill people indoors.
“Documenting secret or indoor killings is our next step. There is a growing number of news stories citing clandestine information sources within North Korea about these types of killings in the past five to six years.”Said the executive director of the TJWG, Lee Young-hwan.
The TJWG interviewed 683 North Korean defectors over six years, and 200 of the total participants lived in North Korea after Kim Jong-un took power in December 2011.
The report, funded by the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy, included 442 “credible testimonies” of murders sanctioned by the State from 1956 to 2018.
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Source-www.infobae.com