By We have heard these claims before that high ranking North Korean government officials have been executed to only see them pop up again shaking Bill Clinton’s hand in Pyongyang, so who knows if this is true or not?:
Pak Nam-gi, the former director of the Planning and Finance Department of North Korean Workers’ Party, was shot dead by a firing squad in Pyongyang over the North’s disastrous currency reform, sources said.
A North Korean source said Pak was executed at a firing range in Sunan District early this month after the botched reform led to widespread protests with increasing public complaints and threatened the succession of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s son Jong-un.
Radio Free North Korea said rumors starting in Pyongyang have circulated far and wide that Pak (76), who was in charge of the economy, took the fall for the disaster. But the Unification Ministry said the rumor have not been confirmed. [Chosun Ilbo]
One Free Korea offers his thoughts on this story as well.
5:25 am on March 21st, 2010 1
One thing I always admired about Asia is their tradition of holding officials accountable. Way to go North Korea. Execution is one way to do it.
In the past, the head of an agency that failed might be expected to commit suicide. In modern times, the lead official is expected to hand in their resignation even before an investigation and cause is found.
But in the U.S., it seems, no one is ever held accountable. Look at George Tenet. He got the Presidential Medal of Freedom after some of the biggest screw ups in U.S. history.
6:06 pm on March 21st, 2010 2
LOL, I like the way you think.
1:34 am on March 22nd, 2010 3
He looks about dead in the picture. Shooting him may have been a humane gesture.