North Korean minister obliterated by mortar

North Korean minister

www.smh.com.au

Kim Chol, the vice-minister of the army, was taken into custody earlier this year on the orders of Kim Jong-un, who assumed the leadership after his father died in December. On the orders of Mr Kim to leave "no trace of him behind, down to his hair", Kim Chol was forced to stand on a spot that had been zeroed in for a mortar round and was "obliterated", South Korean media reported.

Read more: www.smh.com.au...

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Unbelievable (or believable, depending on your view)

I can't imagine the fear of standing on a spot knowing that a mortar round is going to drop on your head.

It makes me think of the "old days" where corporal punishment was a part of military life - but even this is ridiculous.

Analysts are suggesting he is showing his "power" and trying to cement his power base; leading by a system of abject fear and terror for your rank and file isn't the way it should be.

www.smh.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

I for one won't hold my breath on the legitimacy of this article as it is derived initially from a South Korean source.

This is sad, but nothing new for a totalitarian regime. I agree that this act has to do with a solidification of power on the part of the new leader, although I could be wrong. Maybe he was selling information to another nation, who knows? I associate power plays like this with the likes of Stalin's purges, and one execution, as we see here, may not represent what we think it does. I will say that this was probably a more humane method of execution in that he probably did not feel anything. Regimes of this nature have used far worse means of killing people in the past, although it does not change the fact that things like this are deplorable.

Instant and painfree death.

Sounds like a promotion in NK terms.

Kill him and his entire army already. Those people are suffering over there while right across the North and South borders there are two wealthy countries.

Video or it didn't happen..No really, I wanna see it. I believe it 100%. These are the same people that starve their population into obedience.

I have to say that is one accurate mortar!

Sounds a little like a shock and awe event to scare people.

A simple firing squad and disposal of the body just doesn't get the attention these dictators want.

If I saw a guy blown up by a mortar, I sure would do everything in my power not to come to the same fate.

Wow. reminds me of the video where saddam is strapping C4 to inmates and blowing them up for execution.

I mean it's as humane as anything else I guess for execution purposes. It is instant and painless.

But the guy was killed for drinking during the 100 day mandatory grieving period where anything fun was banned. But Drinking could be a medical condition. Is north Korea that stupid as to not have ever heard of alcoholism before. Geeze they should know what one looks like since Kim Jong Il was known to drink.

reply to post by TheLonewolf


That comment is so over-used on this forum now days. It ranks right up there with the "face palm" pics.

Video or it didn't happen.

North Korea is like the dumpster of the world. It houses some of the sickest most messed up people you can find. They think of torture like we think of football games, it's just entertainment to them.

Closest best friend? China.

reply to post by ExCommando


WOW!

Actually, the worst part of any death sentence is the knowing and the waiting, but at least this was quick and relatively painless. Better than firing squad, or hanging, and for me personally, I would hate the cold clinical feel of lethal injection. I think I'd vote for the mortar round if I had my choice, LOL!

reply to post by JackBauer

They think of torture like we think of football games

You do not know that! Thats just a silly comment really.

Originally posted by H1ght3chHippie
Instant and painfree death.

Sounds like a promotion in NK terms.

Haha thanks I needed a good laugh but the sad thing is, it's kind of true.

In a full scale war with the south i wonder how many of the NK troops would change sides just to survive.

Saddam Hussein did this and you saw how many of his troops waved the white flag.

A mortar shell exploding will leave fragments of the victim (they only contain a few lbs of explosives - cf suicide bombs that leave body parts intact when strapped to the bomber!!) - so just on that premise the story is inaccurate, let alone any of the other obvious questions that can be asked!!

The story also says he was executed by "firing squad"...

thats one quick death at least

what did he do to diserve that ?
traitor ??

probably if he was a high ranked minister

Originally posted by Aloysius the Gaul
A mortar shell exploding will leave fragments of the victim (they only contain a few lbs of explosives - cf suicide bombs that leave body parts intact when strapped to the bomber!!) - so just on that premise the story is inaccurate, let alone any of the other obvious questions that can be asked!!

The story also says he was executed by "firing squad"...

edit on 24-10-2012 by Aloysius the Gaul because: (no reason given)

Also the cep of a mortar is in the order of 10's of metres, a mortar is for a area target, not a point target.

It beats saddam hussein's[spelling?] human shredding machine. If he really wanted some one to suffer they went in legs first, such a sweet man saddam he was never too busy to say hello but just happened to be a sadistic sociopathic maniacal psychopath.

Originally posted by hellobruce

Originally posted by Aloysius the Gaul
A mortar shell exploding will leave fragments of the victim (they only contain a few lbs of explosives - cf suicide bombs that leave body parts intact when strapped to the bomber!!) - so just on that premise the story is inaccurate, let alone any of the other obvious questions that can be asked!!

The story also says he was executed by "firing squad"...

edit on 24-10-2012 by Aloysius the Gaul because: (no reason given)

Also the cep of a mortar is in the order of 10's of metres, a mortar is for a area target, not a point target.

Simple question, have you ever fired a mortar?

P