No alla pena di morte − Comunità di Sant'Egidio

EFE

COREA DEL NORTE
Ejecutan públicamente a un norcoreano que habló por móvil con Corea del Sur

Seúl, 4 mar - Un ciudadano de Corea del Norte fue ejecutado públicamente en el país comunista por haber hablado mediante un teléfono móvil chino con un refugiado norcoreano en Corea del Sur, informó hoy la agencia surcoreana Yonhap.

Según la emisora radiofónica "Open Radio for North Korea" (ORNK), un trabajador norcoreano, identificado por su apellido Jung, fue ejecutado en público a finales de enero después de que se hallara un teléfono móvil chino en su casa.

La ORNK, que cita a fuentes de seguridad norcoreanas, dijo que Jung trabajaba en una fábrica en Hamheng, al noreste de Pyongyang, y fue acusado de dar información a un refugiado norcoreano en Corea del Sur sobre la vida en el país comunista, como los precios de arroz en el mercado.

Las fuentes añadieron que las autoridades del régimen de Kim Jong-il estrecharon recientemente su vigilancia sobre los norcoreano que intentan ponerse en contacto con amigos o familiares refugiados en Corea del Sur mediante teléfonos móviles que operan a través de la red china.

Corea del Norte, que según organizaciones humanitarias vive en un extrema penuria económica, llevó a cabo en noviembre una reforma monetaria para estabilizar los precios y consolidar la sucesión del poder de Kim Jong-eun, hijo más joven del líder norcoreano.

No obstante, los expertos creen que esta reforma resultó un fracaso y que los precios de bienes de primera necesidad se dispararon generando un gran descontento social en Corea del Norte.

Según el Gobierno surcoreano, cerca de 16.500 norcoreanos se refugian en Corea del Sur desde que comenzara el éxodo en 1989, cuando los norcoreanos empezaron a escapar del hambre y la represión del regime

AP

NKorean executed for sneaking news out: report

SEOUL, South Korea _ A North Korean firing squad publicly executed a factory worker for sneaking news out of the reclusive communist country via his illicit mobile phone, Seoul-based radio said Thursday.

The armaments factory worker was accused of divulging the price of rice and other information on living conditions to a friend who defected to South Korea years ago, Open Radio for North Korea reported on its Web site.

The man, surnamed Chong, made calls to the defector using an illegal Chinese mobile phone, the broadcaster said, citing a North Korean security agency official it did not identify. The report didn't say when the phone calls were made.

The execution took place by firing squad in late January in the eastern coastal city of Hamhung, according to Open Radio for North Korea, a broadcaster specializing in the isolated country. The station broadcasts into North Korea, which tightly controls news.

South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles relations with North Korea, and the National Intelligence Service, Seoul's main spy agency, said they could not immediately confirm the report.

Mobile phone use in authoritarian North Korea is tightly restricted, though the country introduced an advance network in partnership with Cairo-based Orascom Telecom in 2008. North Koreans who manage to make illegal overseas mobile calls mostly use networks in neighboring China.

Open Radio for North Korea said it believes that more than 10,000 North Koreans living near the border with China illicitly possess Chinese mobile phones.

Ha Tae-keung, the broadcaster's chief, said it was not known to whom in South Korea the information passed on by Chong was eventually delivered.

The North Korean defector said to have received the calls, only identified by the common Korean family name of Kim, may have worked for South Korean government officials, researchers or news outlets, Ha said.

Ha said neither the executed man nor the defector has worked for Open Radio for North Korea.

North Korea has long been regarded as having one of the world's worst human rights records, including public executions, political prison camps and torture.