Based on reports from South Korea and in English media, 12 well-known musicians were executed in North Korea on Aug. 20, including the popular singer Hyun Song-wol — supposedly ex-girlfriend of the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un — and Mun Kyong-jin, concertmaster of the Unhasu Orchestra, now disbanded.
There is no comment from North Korea on this report. Alejandro Cao, a Spanish aristocrat who works with the DPR government, denied the report of Unhasu being disbanded and tweeted that the orchestra’s next appearance is in Pyongyang on Sept. 9.
Chinese sources say the charges were, variously, possessing pornography, making and selling sex videos, having Bibles in their possession, and being political dissidents. The victims were said to be members of the Unhasu Orchestra as well as singers, musicians, and dancers with the Wangjaesan Light Music Band. Hyun was a singer with the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble, one of North Korea’s most popular bands, which had released 150 CDs as of 2007.
Hyun Song-wol was seen in public with Kim Jong-un last year, but later disappeared, and the announcement followed of Kim’s marriage to Ri Sol-ju, also a member of the Unhasu Orchestra
The reports say all of the families of the executed have been sent to prison camps, the usual procedure in North Korea, where guilt by association is punished severely.