While in Russia they are only discussing whether we should return the death penalty in the event of a possible withdrawal of the country from the Council of Europe, in South Korea, which is not bound by any obligations to Strasbourg, this issue has already been decided for itself. For the first time after a long, thirteen-year hiatus, the South Korean authorities have decided to break the unofficial moratorium on executions and impose a death sentence. Unlike Europe, where only Belarus retains the death penalty, in East Asia the situation is far from being so progressive, rather the opposite. The only country in the region that has completely abolished the death penalty is Mongolia. In Japan, Taiwan, North Korea and China, the death penalty exists and is enforced; In fairness, it should be noted that in two special administrative regions of the PRC - Hong Kong and Macau - it has been canceled. In South Korea, however, the issue of capital punishment is in limbo.
On the one hand, the death penalty is in the Criminal Code. On the other hand, the last time a person was executed in South Korea was on December 30, 1997. The situation is familiar to Russians: in Russia, the death penalty was in the same legal state from 1996, when a moratorium was placed on it by President Yeltsin, until 2009, when it was permanently abolished by the Constitutional Court.
In South Korea, the moratorium on the death penalty was, though unofficial, but observed for many years. De facto, it was introduced by President Kim Tae-jung - based on his own unpleasant experience. A couple of decades before coming to power, Kim Tae-jung himself was sentenced to death: then he was the leader of the democratic resistance to the military dictatorship. Kim left the presidency in 2003, but the tradition of not executing criminals has already taken hold. South Korean parliamentarians have twice attempted to completely abolish the death penalty, but both times the bill remained a bill, despite the fact that the first time it was put forward by the right, and the second time by the left.
Why did the South Korean courts decide to abandon this tacit moratorium on capital punishment? The reason was a crime committed by a 23-year-old corporal named Lim.
Crime
Lim served in the 22nd Infantry Division of the South Korean First Army stationed in Koseon County. Koson is located near the Sea of Japan; this is the northernmost part of South Korea, recaptured from the DPRK during the Korean War. This is a calm, quiet and surprisingly picturesque place, and hardly anyone could have imagined that something terrible would happen there in June 2014.
On the evening of June 21, 2014, Corporal Lim, who served in the unit located near the inter-Korean border, as expected, returned from his post to the unit. He was armed with a K-2 rifle, 75 rounds of ammunition for it and a hand grenade. Lim attacked his colleagues - first he threw a grenade at them, and then opened indiscriminate firing from a rifle. He killed three people on the spot, wounded seven more, four of them severely. Two of the wounded died after the battle. By that time, Lim had already fled the unit.
The command immediately understood the importance of the incident: a first-degree alarm was announced, which, for example, should be used in the event of a North Korean invasion, a kind of DEFCON 1. The roads leading out of the unit were blocked by soldiers. Civilians were evacuated from areas adjacent to the scene. The maniac was caught two days later. During the arrest, Corporal Lim tried to commit suicide, but the attempt failed. Everything that happened made a much stronger impression on the South Korean public than a similar incident on the Russians, if it happened in the Russian army: almost all men serve in South Korea, so everyone who watched the news understood that in place of the victims of the killer corporal there could be me, my son or my brother, neighbor, classmate.
Punishment
The arrested Lim was court-martialed by the division. When the prosecutor demanded the death penalty, no one was particularly surprised: it is common for a South Korean prosecution to demand a disproportionately severe punishment. Thus, the prosecutor demanded the execution of the captain of the sunken Sewol ferry, who cowardly threw hundreds of passengers to certain death, although, of course, there was no talk of premeditated murder there. Usually, the demands of the prosecution remain demands - for example, the captain of the Sevol received his well-deserved 36 years.
In this case, however, the tribunal made a sensational decision, agreeing with the prosecutor's office: Lim, given the scale of the deed, was sentenced to death, life imprisonment and life hard labor. If the sentence comes into force, the killer will be shot - this is the method of execution provided in South Korea for the military.
The verdict is not yet final, and the defense of the maniac corporal, of course, filed an appeal with the High Tribunal under the Ministry of Defense of South Korea. In the event that the High Tribunal agrees with the verdict of the first instance, there remains one more step: the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court. However, the chances of a revision are not very high, if you listen to the arguments of the lawyer.
They boil down to the fact that Lim was hounded in parts and pissed off. Firstly, it is not clear what kind of harassment this is, which should give Lim the moral right to kill people, despite the fact that the convict himself is in good health and recognized as sane. Secondly, Lim's epaulettes cast doubt on the lawyer's words. The ranks of the rank and file of the South Korean army are assigned automatically by length of service, and the corporal of them is the eldest, he is received by a conscript who has served a year and five months out of the required year and nine. That is, we have a “grandfather” who is less than four months away from demobilization and who claims that he is a victim of hazing. Thirdly, four of the five killed were younger than the killer in rank, so it’s quite difficult even theoretically to imagine how they could spread rot on Lim, a senior in rank. Fourthly, Corporal Lim himself does not regret anything and believes that the fault lies with his colleagues, that is, with those people whom he killed.
Therefore, both the High Tribunal and President Park Geun-hye, who has the right to pardon, will have to decide not so much about the guilt of the defendant - it is clear that he is guilty and there are aggravating circumstances - but about whether it is worth violating the moratorium on death because of one murderer. execution. At the same time, it will be much easier for the tribunal to make this decision than for the president: a pardon, unlike a sentence, is a political decision, and giving life to a killer who believes that he did everything right will be a big blow to Mrs. Park's already not very high rating.
In addition, in South Korean society, the idea of the death penalty enjoys high support: according to a poll conducted last year, 72% support the death penalty, and only 11% are unequivocally opposed. However, when the question was worded more bluntly: "Do you support the execution of death sentences?" - 69% were in favor anyway, and only 14% were against.
So there is no doubt that the rejection of the appeal by the High Tribunal and the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court will not win the approval of the majority of South Korean society. And given what they want Lim to be executed for, it is unlikely that the condemnation of the sentence by the minority will be especially strong. In addition, for the military, the execution of Lim will be a good occasion to demonstrate to society that such incidents will not happen again and that their children can be sent to the army safely. And with those who dare to shoot at their comrades in arms, the conversation is short: a bullet in the forehead.
If the generals and judges do not have the courage not to go along with public opinion, and Lim's death sentence is approved and carried out, the death penalty will return to South Korea after a long break. Someday this return will turn out to be what it always turns out to be: the execution of an innocent person, and the list of people who died because of Corporal Lim will be replenished with new names.
North Korea, or DPRK, is a very interesting and "secret" country around which there is a lot of gossip.
And no wonder, because the DPRK has one of the most closed regimes in the world. Therefore, there are so many fictional stories and unconfirmed facts about her. But thanks to spies and secret sources of information, we managed to lift the veil of North Korea's secrets and finally find out what is happening in one of the most closed countries in the world. Just sit down, because things familiar to us in North Korea can be punished to the fullest extent of the law!
1. International phone calls.
North Korea bans international phone calls. Attempts to get through to relatives from South Korea are regarded especially strictly. There are cases in history when attempts to contact loved ones from South Korea ended with the death penalty. Crazy, but it's true!
2. Have your own opinion.
In North Korea, there is an unspoken rule that everyone obeys almost from birth: a person can only think as the government requires. Accordingly, no one can think otherwise.
3. No newfangled gadgets.
Are you used to iPhones and modern communication devices? In North Korea, you can forget about it forever. It is forbidden to use any devices based on Android or IOS, whether it is a phone, tablet or computer. In short, no Western trends, only domestic production!
4. Listening to foreign music.
It’s even scary to imagine how much the inhabitants of the DPRK have lost, who simply cannot recognize the latest top music charts. All music in this country should glorify the political regime. Agree, it is difficult to imagine Rihanna or Madonna singing about the glorious regime of North Korea.
5. Theft of a campaign poster.
In 2016, a tragic incident occurred in North Korea that cost a young American student his life. 22-year-old student Otto Warmbier, on the instructions of a special intelligence society, stole a propaganda poster from a hotel. He was caught, convicted, and given 15 years of hard labor on charges of trying to "undermine the unity of the Korean people." Unfortunately, Otto fell into a coma, and, returning to his homeland, died. So before tearing off any piece of paper in the DPRK, you should think many, many times. And then suddenly a banal ad will turn out to be a propaganda poster with the image of the leader.
6. Insult the leader of North Korea.
You should never speak badly about the President of the DPRK. Forget even thinking about it - it could end badly for you.
7. Name the country "North Korea".
If we take into account the fact that the government considers itself the only true Korea, then the official name of the state is the DPRK - the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. And during your stay in the country, you should call it that way and nothing else.
8. Take pictures.
This is a rule that all tourists need to understand: in the DPRK, you cannot photograph everything in a row. There are many things and places that are not allowed to be filmed.
9. Driving a car.
As sad as it sounds, you won't be able to move freely in North Korea. According to statistics, there is only 1 car for every 1000 people. Therefore, hiking is recommended for everyone.
10. Joking.
According to immigrants, it is better not to joke in North Korea. All your words are taken seriously, so you need to always be on the alert.
11. Speak negatively about the government.
You just have to remember - all the guilty face a "reformatory camp". Agree, it's not pleasant!
12. Asking when Kim Jong-un was born.
Why not ask? Just take my word for it and don't fill your head with unnecessary dates. For your own good. Yes, and they themselves do not know the exact answer to this question.
13. Drink alcohol.
In North Korea, there is a specific schedule for "drinking alcoholic beverages." In 2012, one of the army officers was executed for drinking alcohol during the 100-day mourning for Kim Jong Il.
14. Have a mohawk.
Any hairstyle in North Korea must be approved by the government. By the way, there are 28 different hairstyles that you can safely use. The rest - only under pain of death.
15. Leave the country.
If you decide to go on a trip and leave the DPRK, you are guaranteed to be caught, returned back and shot. Moreover, along with you, most likely, your entire family will be executed.
16. Live in Pyongyang.
So you can imagine that someone else dictates to you where and how to live!? No? And in the DPRK, the government decides which mortals are allowed to live in the capital of the state. And most often these are people with great connections.
17. Viewing pornography.
Here, it would seem, well, someone wants to watch pornographic materials - well, let him look at his health. But no! In North Korea, the death penalty awaits you for watching porn industry products. Kim Jong Un's ex-girlfriend was gunned down in front of her family for making a sex video.
18. Practice any religion.
According to its religious conviction, North Korea is an atheistic country that treats any religion quite aggressively and unfriendly. In 2013, by order of the government, 80 Christians were shot for simply reading the Bible.
19. Free Internet access.
Anyone can use the Internet in North Korea, but only those sites approved by the government of the DPRK can be visited on the unlimited World Wide Web. Attempting to go to any other site is punishable by death. In principle, in the DPRK there is one solution to all problems - execution. Therefore, you should not run into.
20. Do not vote.
In the Land of the Morning Calm, it is forbidden not to participate in elections. Voting is mandatory. What's more, voting for the wrong candidate can be detrimental to your health.
21. Wear jeans.
Jeans are one of the most favorite wardrobe items of any person. But in North Korea, you can forget about them, because jeans are associated with the enemy of North Korea - the United States, and therefore banned.
22. Watch TV.
As with the internet, only government-approved channels can be viewed in North Korea. There are cases when several people were sentenced to death for watching South Korean channels.
23. Try to escape from prison.
North Korea has managed to stand out even in this area. Under the laws of the country, any prisoner who escapes or tries to do so condemns 4 generations of his family to punishment to the fullest extent of North Korean laws. And, as we have seen above, the government has only one way out.
24. Read books.
Everything foreign in North Korea is extremely negative. Therefore, if you are caught with the usual guide to the country, then you are in for trouble.
25. Make mistakes.
Agree that many make mistakes both in spoken language and in writing, but do not kill a person for this!? The DPRK does not think so. Recently, a journalist was executed there for a common typo in an article.
One feels like asking the government of the DPRK: “Can you breathe? Or is that also punishable by death? It seems that the DPRK lives by its own laws, which in no way succumb to the logic or laws of ordinary human relations. So if you ever decide to go to North Korea, remember all the warnings. It's better not to go there at all!
On the eve of the Latvian premiere of April 12, the author of the film about North Korea “In the Rays of the Sun”, documentary filmmaker Vitaly Mansky told the Delfi portal how he, as a “friend of Putin”, shot the first Russian-North Korean documentary film according to a pre-written fake script with fake characters in fake settings. And what does he think about the chances of other countries to take the path of Juche.
It was assumed that the film by Vitaly Mansky would be shown both in the DPRK and around the world. It was not possible to complete the director's plan in full - instead of the three trips and three months of filming stipulated in the contract, Mansky's group managed to work in Pyongyang for only 40 days. The next visa was simply not issued to them.
As a result, the idea had to be changed on the go and mounted from what was. They learned about the appearance of the film in the DPRK when its international festival premiere was being prepared. As Vitaly Mansky said, “The North Korean Foreign Ministry sent a note of protest and a harsh statement from the Ministry of Culture, which wrote about a well-thought-out American action aimed at discrediting the country. They demanded to destroy the film, to ban any of its screenings, to take action against the provocateurs who organized everything, etc. All this was written when the representatives of the DPRK could not even physically see the film.”
In Latvia, the premiere of "In the Rays of the Sun" will take place at a significant moment - just now the Saeima is discussing the so-called "spy" amendments to the Criminal Law, which can seriously restrict freedom of expression. We have the opportunity to see to what absurdity the authorities can reach in their zeal.
At the box office, the film will be shown in Korean with Latvian subtitles. The first two sessions are with Russian voice-over. In the world, the picture is sold out, in neighboring Estonia the halls were full, and the film itself received the prize for best director in the feature film competition of the Dark Nights Tallinn Film Festival. To date, the picture has participated in 25 of the most prestigious festivals and received many prizes. It goes to film distribution in Germany, South Korea, the USA and other countries.
They knew about me that I was the main documentary filmmaker of Russia and personally filmed the leader of Russia
Delfi.lv: When a well-known Internet hooligan Artemy Lebedev's report about his trip to North Korea appeared on LiveJournal ten years ago, the first thought that arose was: are they really allowed to go there... You do not hide your free temper, but you were even entrusted with making a film about this closed country. What are the criteria for getting there?
Vitaly Mansky: I think the North Koreans had no idea who one of the most popular Runet bloggers was. Despite the fact that they have entire departments for receiving and working with Russian guests, even there people do not have access to the Internet and actually believe fragmentary information about a person and his profile.
A fairly proven way to get a visa is to enroll in a Juche friends course at the North Korean embassy in Moscow, which lasts more than six months, where you prove yourself a true adherent of the Juche ideology. Over the years, the star of investigative journalism Roman Super and the equally famous reporter Andrei Loshak signed up for these courses (attention!). Both ended up in North Korea and were not exposed.
— Perhaps, it is assumed that after such treatment, the cadets are automatically imbued with the Juche ideology?
— The bacillus of the leftist ideology (albeit not in such an exotic form) is actively walking around the world even without Juche. There are many serious and internally filled people among its carriers. It sounds beautiful: peace, equality, from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. Here I wouldn't mind. But with one condition: society will not determine my needs. Alas, this does not happen.
I also know another effective way to get into Pyongyang. One very large Russian businessman, apparently at the request of the Kremlin, provided assistance to North Korea in the amount of a million dollars, for which he received ten entry visas as a gift from the "brotherly" country. When Ksenia Sobchak found out about this, she asked to give her one of the visas as a birthday present. Handing over the documents, the businessman told her: I am giving you 100,000 dollars ...
You don't need to explore the secret files of the FSB to understand my attitude towards North Korea. But, as it turned out later, their whole idea of me was in two topics: that I am the main director of documentary films in Russia, and I am the director who personally filmed the leader of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. Their further logic is easy to read: since he made a film about Putin, which was shown about TV, then maybe about their leader.
How was the script work going?
Context
Escaped from the DPRK: the country has no future
Asahi Shimbun 10/15/2015Sanctions? No, haven't heard
Sankei Shimbun 03/18/2016North Korea: Sanctions don't work
Nihon Keizai 02/10/2016North Korea takes on new challenges
Asahi Shimbun 02/05/2016 - It was completely written by the North Korean side - detailed, with all the dialogue. They wouldn't go for anything else. Since I knew in advance that they wanted to use me as a medium who would convey to the world their ideas of beauty, mass parades and majestic facades, I tried to use the “tail wag the dog” technique: I threw them ideas that did not destroy their illusions, but allowed me to realize my vision.According to the scenario, a North Korean girl has been preparing for the greatest event in her life, joining the pioneers, for a long time, she receives her first pioneer assignment, to take part in the Airan holiday - to become part of a giant living picture of flags, their image of happiness, which was supposed to get into the Guinness Book of Records. In my film, she was supposed to eventually turn into one of the millions of pixels in the picture. Alas, in the end, the script was implemented by thirty percent - we only got to the moment when the girl was accepted into the dance studio of the Palace of Pioneers.
- Were you allowed to select the main characters yourself?
“Actually, they suggested that I didn’t need to get acquainted with the heroes in advance, but I insisted that they give me the opportunity to choose the heroine myself. And so five girls were brought to the principal’s office, informing me in advance that I had 10 minutes for everything about everything, they say, the girls are very busy (in North Korea, where time just froze, it sounded absurd. I chose Zin Mi - attracted, that her dad was a journalist, and that would help to get some information.However, in the script he was already presented as an engineer of a model garment factory.When we started filming, I discovered that the other four girls were still in the film, in as Zin Mi's girlfriends.
Filming was done in the luxurious apartment where they say Zin Mi's family lives, the most beautiful house in Pyongyang overlooking the Juche Monument. But it was obvious that they did not even spend the night there: the cupboards and the refrigerator were empty, we did not find toothbrushes and slippers. In addition, even in that first conversation during the casting, the girl let slip that she and her parents and grandparents live in a one-room apartment near the station.
- That is, you were going to shoot a documentary film, but it turned out ... artistic and playful.
- And yet for me this is an absolutely documentary picture - it demonstrates the methodology for creating a substitution of reality. Figuratively speaking, I did not film the Potemkin village, passing it off as real, but filmed how it was built. I went the same way to Ekaterina, fixing the last moments of adjustment, touch-up and installation of plywood facades.
In our undertaking to expose the fakes, it was very helpful that, under the guise of a sound engineer, we brought a Korean language teacher from Moscow State University to Pyongyang - she secretly translated all the conversations in our environment for us. And we knew more than they thought. The main topic of their conversations was their concern that we would not see or understand anything superfluous.
- How did they get it?
- Our passports were immediately taken away, and without passports it was impossible to go out into the street. So without accompanying it was impossible to take a step. I think if I rushed to do something, spitting on all their conventions, it would end up with people in civilian clothes (they have practically no pure police) who would escort us back to the hotel, and from there, on the very first flight, to Russia . Most likely, in this case, materials and equipment would have been confiscated from us. Therefore, we did not allow ourselves such rude demarches.
Filming was like a reconnaissance operation, when you do something else under the cover of one
- How did you manage to look behind the facade of glossy reality with such total surveillance?
- It was lucky that we were not sent to a hotel on the island, where all foreigners are usually accommodated - there we would not have seen anything at all. But, knowing their custom, I made it a categorical condition beforehand that we should live in the city. So we ended up in an exemplary hotel, where we settled some advanced workers who came to some ceremonial events in Pyongyang - they were brought up on buses, with bouquets and orders.
For two months of staying there, we did not meet more than 10 people at breakfast - this is for the entire huge restaurant with luxurious chandeliers and "Versailles" chairs. It's funny that with all the surrounding "luxury", for breakfast they gave a tablespoon of jam, a cube of butter, bread, an egg and three mugs of cucumber.
— And for lunch?
- We dined well - in a currency restaurant. For quite sane money by our standards - 10-15 euros. Although by their standards it is years of work. As I was able to find out, the salary of the editor of their film studio, which employs more than 800 people, translated into our money is 75 cents a month.
For example, I watched how a whole family looked after a piece of roadside lawn near our hotel every day: they carried water in bowls and took out weeds with tweezers. For whom and why did they do it? If it’s really necessary to throw dust in my eyes, then there is rolled grass in the world for this.
In the course of filming, we “stole” all the time, as best we could and what we could. For example, according to the scenario, the girl had to go to school by bus. They brought us a brand new transport, we sat there, and on the way, pretending to be filming a girl, managed to capture the city. We would not be allowed to shoot the city just like that. Or we filmed the laying of flowers at the Monument of the Leaders, and ourselves, with the help of long lenses, filmed the scenes further away. All this was reminiscent of a reconnaissance operation, when under the cover of one you do another.
- That is, in fact, Pyongyang is a giant Hollywood studio with expensive scenery in which actors play their roles. For life.
- Absolutely so! At the same time, if we recall the observations of the same Artemy Lebedev, when the escorts brought him to the observation deck of the top of the Juche monument in order to capture the front view of the city with avenues and skyscrapers on the other side of the river, it was enough for him to turn 180 degrees to photograph what they they clearly did not want to show him - the beggarly barracks, testifying to real life behind the Potemkin facades. I think that's why they limit the arrival of guests in order to more carefully control everyone and bring them to the "correct" angles.
- I wonder what would happen if you were caught filming the wrong angles?
- I don’t think that I, as a “friend of Putin”, was in real danger to my life. After all, Russia is the main friend and partner of North Korea, which has become one of the 10 world powers that recognized the annexation of Crimea - brothers forever. But my indulgence lasted for two trips. The originally promised third visa was not given to us - something apparently reached them.
North Koreans believe their country is at war with America, people are dying
- In the name of what is all this majestic fake being created?
- Frankly speaking, I still cannot understand the meaning of the titanic work of an entire nation to create a kind of papier-mâché reality. When Putin held the Winter Olympics in subtropical Sochi, it was clear that he wanted to show the world a picture of Russia's absolute power and his personal triumph. And this product of his will be “consumed” by hundreds of millions of people. Later, it was on the affect of his Olympic triumph that he took the Crimea, launched the Ukrainian, and then the Syrian campaign ...
In the situation with North Korea, labor costs and investments in glossing the picture of the entire country are disproportionately large. Their Olympiad, as it began about seventy years ago, never ends. Of course, they do not have the technologies of the civilized world, but they take the scale, power and coherence. Living pictures of universal happiness, created by thousands of people with flags for labor costs, are cooler than a laser show in Sochi. But the Korean "Putin" does not have the same audience as the Russian one. After all, a rare tourist arrives there. So for whom all these decorations are designed, I don’t understand.
For them, such a life in the scenery is an absolutely natural form of existence. For several generations, no resistance mechanisms of the body and the mental apparatus are already included. They say that a person once had a tail, from which the coccyx remained, and among the North Koreans something similar happened to consciousness - it died out as unnecessary.
- Do you think they are happy in this state?
Yes, it is a certain form of happiness.
Maybe this is because they have nothing to compare with?
- The main slogan of the DPRK, sung in poems and printed in all newspapers and on money is "We envy no one!". For them, there is no outside world at all. Even their closest neighbor, South Korea, is for them a part of the common Korea occupied by the Americans, which must be liberated from the yoke in order to live happily together.
The North Koreans are absolutely sure that right now their country is in the active phase of the war with America, in which people are dying even today. At the Pioneer induction ceremony, I was shown eight-year-old children dressed in military uniforms and told that they were orphans whose parents… died in the war with the Americans.
- So, nevertheless, their parents did something bad, maybe free-thinking, since they were sent to "die in the war"?
- I think their maximum - they stole corn in the field to stupidly eat. I don’t think that these were some kind of dissident impulses - it’s hard to imagine it even in its rudimentary form. There is no irony about the leaders there.
Have you seen their Lenin?
- They took me to the Mausoleum to see Kim Il Sung. They said with a breath that there was a plan to introduce me to the leader. But I’m even glad that this didn’t happen: I couldn’t refuse, and this whole Korean ceremony would certainly be filmed on cameras and used for their ideological purposes. I was constantly asked to write in their review books, and the translator immediately sat down to translate. I understood that I could not write everything that I thought, I had to invent Aesopian fables.
Actually, my entire unrealized film was supposed to become such an Aesopian fable. I went to North Korea to make a film that would tell the world about this state in the most convincing and cinematic way possible. At the same time, so that viewers in North Korea can watch my film with pleasure, which, with the fall of the regime in North Korea, would turn into horror. Leni Riefenstahl did exactly the same when she made a picture proclaiming the triumph of the will of Adolf Hitler - it was these shots that later became the material for the Nuremberg trials and the most obvious proof of the horror and grief that Nazism brought to the civilization of the 20th century.
- So you were going to shoot "The Triumph of the Will of Kim Il Sung"?
- Yes. A modern reading of Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will.
- What do you know about the fate of your heroes after the filming ended so abruptly? Were they sent to the "American war"?
- I am sure that they were not sent to the “war”. Because the more attention to the picture in the world (and it goes to dozens of festivals and at the box office in many countries), the more important it is for the Korean side to be able, if requested (and there were such), to show this family to the world and show that everything is in order with it . They care about their image.
No one is following the path of North Korea. Even Russia, and even more so Latvia
— Of course, I'm happy that the Soviet regime eventually collapsed, but I must admit that the Soviet Union was a much more vegetarian system. In any case, if we talk about the period from the late 60s, which I consciously remember. I admit that I could exist more or less organically in the Soviet Union all my life, having a certain space of personal freedom. Yes, it would not be the freedom that I operate now, yes, I would have to speak in a more Aesopian language, make more metaphorical films, not fly so much around the world and consider the trip to Bulgaria a great success. But if suddenly I had a choice - life in North Korea or the death penalty, I would definitely choose the latter. I wouldn't doubt for a second.
- Stalin was going in approximately the same direction as the leaders of the DPRK. Why didn't it come?
- To be honest, I myself do not fully understand the Stalinist time. Stalin instilled animal fear, but even during the years of the most severe repressions there was a great and free culture - Platonov, Bulgakov, Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, Pasternak wrote, Meyerhold staged, Eisenstein filmed, Rodchenko, Vertov were active ... Yes, we all know who hanged himself, whom shot, but the cleansing system was not completed - Stalin died.
They still have not died Stalin. Their "Stalin period" was realized several generations ago, and all new generations were born already in a coordinate system where an absolute vacuum of freedom reigns. This is a unique social structure, which has no analogues even in the history of civilization. I think Korean "Stalinism" is a special hybrid of socialism and totalitarianism with Eastern culture.
— Is it impossible for him to appear in the West? For example, when there was a danger in Latvia that the Saeima would adopt amendments to the Criminal Law that would restrict freedom of speech and opinion, the debate immediately began whether we were moving along the path of North Korea. Even more often such a comparison is made with modern Russia.
- Of course, no one is following the path of North Korea. Even Russia. It is impossible to build a second North Korea in the modern world. Because what happened there is an absolute anomaly. As a result of a certain "Chernobyl" accident, an exotic creature was born, such as a bull with three heads. Perhaps it would soon die as unviable, but the Soviet Union supported it, and it survived the crisis period, gave birth to millions of three-headed gobies and hung in such an outlandish form.
In Russia, no matter how hard Putin tries, he will eventually be swept away - he will not succeed in North Korea. And from Latvia - even more so. This does not mean that restrictions on freedom of speech and criticism of the authorities can be allowed. Any government strives to implement various projects without public control - it's faster and more convenient. She is sure that she wants good for unreasonable people (here Kim Il Sung wanted good), and here there is endless resistance with posters. But society should be able to influence the government so that it feels under control and does not bury itself.
Yes, there are enough problems in Latvia, there are many insulting things, but this is a free country where you can be happy, and if you don’t like it at all, go to live in London, get a job as a babysitter, give birth to eight children, receive an allowance for each and visit Latvia for Ligo. You can return after some time. You can choose politicians, or you can not choose ... Nothing like this is possible in North Korea. Even our conversation would not have taken place there.
The director of the film, Vitaly Mansky, has been living and working in Latvia since 2014, where the film “In the Rays of the Sun” was edited. Mansky is a partner of the Riga International Film Festival, hosts ArtdocfestRiga.
BAKU / News-Azerbaijan. In today's civilized society, the death penalty is illegal. However, in many fairly developed and advanced countries, it continues to exist. In some countries, the death penalty is a legal criminal penalty only for extremely serious crimes, while in others it is widely used for lesser offenses.
Currently, the laws provide for five methods of death penalty: firing squad - the most common type of execution, hanging, electric chair, gas chamber and lethal injection.
Of the 10 largest states in the world, eight use the death penalty. The United States, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangaldesh and Japan continue to resort to capital punishment. In Europe and the CIS, the death penalty has been completely abolished, with the exception of Belarus, where this type of punishment still exists.
Currently, the death penalty as a form of punishment is provided for by US federal law and the laws of 36 states. A feature of American law is that it allows for the death penalty for minors.
The United States is among the top five countries in the world in terms of the number of executions.
As of 2015, executions were carried out in the following states: Texas - 13, Missouri - 6, Georgia - 5, Florida - 2, Virginia - 1, Oklahoma - 1. The state of Texas is the traditional leader in the number of executions.
The culture of the death penalty in the US states usually includes the right of the condemned to the last supper - a meal prepared several hours before the execution in accordance with his request (with certain restrictions) and the right to the last word immediately before the execution of the sentence. Witnesses are usually present during the execution, as a rule, relatives of the convicted person and his victims, lawyers and a priest have such a right.
Japan
Japan, along with the United States, remains one of the few developed countries that retained the death penalty.
Each suicide bomber has an average of 6 years to be executed. A long period of stay in a cell is one of the conditions of the Japanese system. It is believed that during this time some new details of the crime may emerge.
The suicide bomber learns about the execution half an hour before it. The culprit is killed by hanging. It is worth noting that more than 80% of the population of the country support the death penalty in Japan.
South Korea
The death penalty exists in the South Korean Penal Code, but despite this, the last execution took place in 1997.
The issue of the death penalty resurfaced after an incident in 2014 when a 23-year-old corporal named Lim, who served on the border between North and South Korea, attacked fellow soldiers. The corporal killed three on the spot and wounded seven, of whom two died soon after.
Given the scale of the deed, he was sentenced to death, life imprisonment and life hard labor. If the sentence comes into force, the killer will be shot - this is the method of execution provided in South Korea for the military.
Israel
In Israel, the death penalty is the death penalty for a very limited number of crimes, including war criminals, traitors, warmongers and genocidal organizers. During the existence of the state, two people were executed.
In 1948, the captain of the Israel Defense Forces, Meir Tuviansky, was mistakenly shot on charges of treason and espionage in favor of Great Britain, and in 1962, Adolf Eichmann, a former employee of the Gestapo and the Main Directorate of Imperial Security (RSHA) of Nazi Germany, was hanged.
China
The death penalty in China is used more often than in any other country, although official statistics still do not report the exact number of executions.
Currently, the death penalty is used as a punishment for a number of crimes. As of the beginning of 2016 - for 46 crimes. The vast majority of executions are carried out for drug trafficking on a large scale.
The death penalty is not applied in Hong Kong and Macau, which are separate jurisdictions in accordance with the "one country, two systems" principle.
Prepared by Svetlana KHALAPOVA
Execution from anti-aircraft guns and labor camps: How officials are dealt with in the DPRK
Kim Jong Un AFP
The world most often learns about the fate of officials in North Korea from the South Korean press, which of this is true, and which is the product of a propaganda machine, we may never know
News about executions in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea comes to the big world through South Korean agents and intelligence officers, bit by bit passing information to their curators, who are already pouring it drop by drop into the media of their country.
Stories about the executions of high-ranking officials in one of the most closed countries in the world have almost become commonplace, and if previously sophisticated reprisals were surprising, now, one might say, Kim Jong-un, who led North Korea in 2011, began to repeat itself. Or are South Korean news agencies repeating themselves?
It is impossible to check the fate of certain officials, from time to time those who were declared dead in South Korea "resurrect" in the ranks of the Korean People's Party again. We have collected several versions of the South Korean media, how, according to their version, North Korean officials who are suspected of corruption, lack of loyalty, or simply disagree with the Kim Jong-un line end their lives.
First steps in mortal business
A little less than six months have passed since Kim Jong Il died and his son took his place, during these six months, information appeared in the South Korean media about mass purges by his son in the ranks of supporters and close associates of his father - the young ruler radically disagreed with the views of the "old guard" . Or did the old people not share the fervor of the new leadership? However, reports of mass executions were nameless, it was about party functionaries close to the top of power, but still not about the "cream" of the Labor Party.
Lee Yong Ho 20read
In July 2012, it was reported that the North Korean special services were trying to arrest the previously dismissed Chief of Staff of the People's Army Lee Yong Ho, the general's guards opened fire, a shootout broke out, 20-30 people were killed on both sides, including a retired official.
Family ties are powerless in front of hungry dogs
Until December 2013, Jang Song-taek was considered the second person in the state and the gray eminence of the ruling party, but he was suddenly removed from all posts and sent to court. He was accused of trying to seize power and overthrow Kim Jong-un, he admitted his guilt.
Arrest of Jang Song-taek Xinhua
Jang Song-taek was not just a North Korean party leader - he was also the uncle of Kim Jong-un - the husband of his aunt. The South Korean version of the death of an official - he was given to be torn to pieces by 120 hungry dogs. It was this version that did not fly off the front pages of world publications for a long time.
It is quite possible that this information was deliberately disseminated from North Korea - to intimidate and demonstrate the cruelty of the leader. A few years later it turned out that he had been shot. The fate of the family is unknown, although the press says that all of them - the wife and children were sent to prison, where they were poisoned.
Flamethrower to the rescue
In April 2014, another report of an execution was leaked to the South Korean press from across the most heavily guarded border in the world. Now the Minister of Public Security, Oh Sung-heon, has lost his life. According to the South Korean intelligence services, Kim Jong-un personally burned him alive with a flamethrower. For corruption.
Kim Jong-un (center) and Pyong In-song (left) Reuters
And since the end of 2014, a whole series of disappearances of high-ranking North Korean officials followed, whose departments did not give the desired effect to Kim Jong-un. About all of them, the South Korean media wrote that they were executed. The methods of executions were not disclosed - nothing extraordinary, execution. The list of ineffective officials included the head of military operations in the army, Pyeng In Song, and Ma Won Chun, who headed the construction supervision commission.
Not small caliber
In April 2015, information about a new execution appeared in the media. This time, the Juche regime "ate" North Korean Defense Minister Hyun Yong-chol. Although he was officially accused of inefficient work and disloyalty, the version stubbornly circulated in the media that the minister was guilty of falling asleep during Kim Jong-un's speech. And they killed the minister not with a simple bullet, but by shooting from a large-caliber anti-aircraft gun ZPU-4 at the training ground and in the presence of several hundred spectators.
Hyun Yong-chul Reuters
Already in August of the same year, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Yong Gon was executed - the caliber of officials who are "cleansed" continues to grow. But there were no chilling details here - he was simply shot for poor work results in the implementation of Kim Jong-un's program to deploy forestry enterprises.
Choi Yong Gun Reuters
2016 executions
In February, the media reported on the execution of the head of the North Korean General Staff, Ri Yong Gil. Togo has traditionally been accused of corruption, although some sources speak of the general's disagreement with a number of Kim Jong-un's appointments.
Ri Yong Gil and Kim Jong Un BBC
But today the media reported on the execution of two ministers - the former Minister of Agriculture Hwong Min and the head of the Ministry of Education Ri Yong-Jin. One of them was executed for dozing off during a meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. He was also accused of corruption. The second is for inaccurate implementation of the government's recommendations in their work. And again - not a simple bullet, but an anti-aircraft mortar.
Verifying all these reports of death is next to impossible. Which of the stories and rumors about the life of the Juche country is true, and which is a lie, perhaps the world will never know. And how the lives of the guilty ministers actually ended, one can only guess.
Not by officials alone
In 2010, after the end of the World Cup, the press wrote about the unenviable fate of the North Korean team and its coach. The press wrote that after the game with Portugal, which ended 7-0 in favor of the Europeans, the athletes were given a public scolding, and the coach was sent to labor camps to work as a builder.
Weightlifter Kim Kuk-hyang during the awards ceremony at the 2016 Xinhua Olympics
After a series, the world press became concerned about their future fate behind the barbed wire border of the DPRK.