The aptly monikered Hermit Kingdom is an endless source of fascination and confusion for the outside world. Tales trickling out from it straddle the line between the ridiculously sublime — consider, for example, the “discovery” of a unicorn lair — and the terrifyingly grim. Most recently, “dear leader” Kim Jong-un is reported to have taken strong exception to a napping official. Defence Minister Hyong Yong-choi was allegedly killed by anti-aircraft fire for falling asleep during a meeting. South Korean intelligence, the main source for news about its secretive neighbour that does not involve Kim performing feats of derring-do, has since walked back its information on the method, and even the fact, of the execution.
The entire incident exemplifies the mystique that surrounds North Korea. It is easy to believe stories of errant officials being punished for a slight, real or imagined, or for threatening the Kims’ stranglehold over the nation, because such things have happened in the past. Grisly methods of execution, such as death by firing squad and flamethrowers, have supposedly been deployed with some regularity by the Kim dynasty in an attempt to consolidate its hold on power. The young Kim, especially, might feel the need to constantly signal to the elites, who are both his closest allies and most credible threats, that he is in charge by effecting a purge every so often.
