Former Lover of North Korean Leader Reportedly Executed
Published at
PEDRO UGARTE/AFP/Getty Images(SEOUL, South Korea) — A former lover of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un was executed last week, according to South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo.
Pyongyang accused Hyon Song-wol, a popular singer in the country, and 11 others of filming themselves making sex tapes.
Chosun Ilbo alleges that Hyon and the others were rounded up Aug. 17 and then gunned down by a firing squad on Aug. 20 with their relatives forced to watch the execution.
Hyon was reported to be the girlfriend of Kim until his late father, former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, told him to break off the relationship.
A Japanese expert on North Korea is speculating that it’s too simplistic to assume that Hyon and the others were killed for making sex tapes, if that even happened. He said it was likely for “political reasons.”
Or, it could have been personal since Kim’s wife, Ri Sol-ju, was reportedly unhappy about Hyon’s popularity.
Some of Hyon’s biggest hits in North Korea were “A Girl In the Saddle of a Steed,” “Footsteps of Soldiers,” “I Love Pyongyang,” “She Is a Discharged Soldier” and “We Are Troops of the Party.”
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio