North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has ordered the executions of 70 people since he came to power in 2003, according to South Korean leaders, who called his leadership a “reign of terror.”
According to an Australian news site, an unidentified official with South Korea’s National Intelligence Service revealed that Kim Jong Un has ordered about 70 officials to be killed, topping his father, Kim Jong Il, who killed 10 officials in his first years leading the country.
The Kim family has been ruling in North Korea since 1948, and the Australian website said it’s difficult to confirm information about what is occurring in the country.
USA Today said a May report indicated Kim Jong Un ordered North Korea’s defense minister, Hyon Yong-chol, killed "in front of hundreds of people at a military school."
Quoting the Yonhap news agency, USA Today said 66-year-old Hyon had reportedly dozed off during an event in which Kim was speaking and had also spoken out against the Supreme Leader. In another instance, Kim executed his uncle Jang Song Thaek in 2013 for alleged treason.
Newsweek reported Thursday that a terrapin farmer in Pyongyang, North Korea, was killed on Kim’s orders after the dictator toured the farm in May and was disappointed with how it was managed.
The story,
originally reported by the Daily NK, said that Kim was upset after seeing that a number of terrapin had died, as well as lobsters that were originally give to the facility to breed.
The Daily NK said the story was confirmed from multiple sources, one of whom said, “He was executed because some of the tanks were not adequately supplied with food and water, leading to the death of a lot of terrapins.”
Although the story about Kim’s disappointment in the turtle farm was covered internationally, it’s just recently that the news of the manager’s execution became public.
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