N Korean executed for distributing Bible

NORTH Korea publicly executed a Christian woman for distributing the Bible, which is banned in the communist nation, South Korean activists claimed yesterday.

Ri Hyon Ok, 33, was also accused of spying for South Korea and the US and organising dissidents.

She was executed in the north-western city of Ryongchon on June 16, according to a report from an alliance of several dozen anti-North Korea groups.

Ri’s parents, husband and three children were sent to a political prison camp in the north-eastern city of Hoeryong the following day, reports said, citing unidentified documents it says were obtained from North Korea. It showed a copy of Ri’s North Korean government-issued photo ID.

Yesterday, an annual report from a state-run South Korean think tank on human rights in the North said that public executions, though dropping in number in recent years, were still carried out for crimes ranging from murder to circulating foreign movies.

North Korea claims to guarantee freedom of religion.