North Korean Soldiers Face Death Penalty for Spreading Kim Jong Un Jokes
North Korean officers and soldiers are under investigation after spreading a very unwise joke comparing Kim Jong Un to a kindergartener. Members of the second army corps were allegedly arrested and are facing the death penalty for mocking the despotic leader.
"News of cadres of the second army corps slandering Kim Jong Un reached all the way to the People's Army's General Political Bureau, and the arrested cadres are to be severely punished," UPI quoted a source in the country's South Hwanghae Province as telling Radio Free Asia.
Kim is reportedly unpopular and has been a subject of ridicule among army men who referred to him as a mentally ill child, and more outrageous than his father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung combined. Other units have become nervous after the arrests were purportedly made in the second corps.
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The report also cited that Kim is becoming more unpopular among the populace who are beginning to express their discontent. In December 2016, the government conducted handwriting tests and searched houses in Yanggang province where anti-Kim propaganda flyers were distributed.
"Let us overthrow Kim Jong Un," the leaflets read, which was apparently taken from the "Let us overthrow Japan" slogan used by the late Kim Il Sung before he led an anti-Japanese armed struggle in 1937 in Pochonbo city where the flyers were first discovered.
In North Hamgyong Province, a graffiti that read "Punish Kim Jong Un, the enemy of the people" was found scrawled on a building wall at a marketplace in Chongjin city. The state restricted public movements and interrogated people. It also released warning saying, "Those who try to challenge the Sun will never survive."
Kim has been known to order executions for the flimsiest reasons. In July 2016, the dictator had his vice-premier for education executed for sleeping at a meeting he presided, which was considered as a form of disrespect. The official was arrested on site and shot by firing squad, according to reports.
