North Korean Military Lectures Saying, ‘Hyon Young Chol Publicly Executed for Rejection of Kim’s Supreme Authority’
North Korean military lectures have mentioned that Hyon Young Chol, the Minister of People’s Armed Forces, was publicly executed for his rejection of Kim Jong Un’s supreme authority.
A source from Pyongan province said, “in a military lecture, Hyon Young Chol was referred to as ‘a militarist, who defied the supreme authority of Kim Jong Un’.” Also, “the lecturer equated Hyon’s case with that of Kim Chang Bong, who was executed forty years ago with the label of ‘an anti-party and a counter-revolutionary element.’
A source from Yang-Gang province also told that “I heard from a high-ranking military official that Hyon Young Chol was publicly executed by ZPU-4 in front of generals.”
A source from South Pyoungan province said that “since Hyon’s execution is the single biggest event that has taken place in the aftermath of Jang Sung-Taek’s death, high-ranking military officials deeply fear that they might be the next targets. Some high-ranking officials even say, ‘it would be better to discharge from military early enough not to get hurt.’ Soldiers worry that ‘Nowadays, it is so chaotic. I don’t know how this country will end up like.’”
A source in charge of North Korean citizens’ reactions reported that “in a train, the public execution of Hyon was a hot issue amongst passengers.” This source noted that passengers have been indifferent to the death of Hyon, as they remarked, “what is the use of being high-ranking officials? Let’s just earn a lot of money.” Some elderly even lamented, “It is indeed inauspicious. Situations are just like what happened in the late Chosun Dynasty when everyone killed each other.”
The purge of Kim Chang Bong took place in the late 1960s. He was the minister of National Security, which is exactly the same position as that of Hyon. Kim Chang Bong was executed also for the rejection of the Supreme Leader’s authority and the creation of military factionalism.
[Source: DailyNK]
