Unconfirmed reports claim the ex girlfriend of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was executed by firing squad along with 11 others after the group allegedly made and sold a sex tape.
Hyon Song Wol a singer in North Korea's famed Unhasu Orchestra was killed by machine gun along with 11 other members of the orchestra and the Wangjaesan Light Music Band another popular state run music group in North Korea according to a report in The Chosun Ilbo South Korea's largest daily newspaper.
The report which cites an anonymous source in China says the group was arrested Aug. 17 for filming and selling a pornographic video featuring themselves. The clip reportedly found its way across the border to China. Their families were forced to watch the execution which took place three days later and were then sent to the country's notorious prison camps the source said.
Read the full report at The Chosun Ilbo.
Hyon was a famous performer whose fame peaked around 2005 with the popular song Excellent Horse Like Lady. She is said to have dated Kim in the early 2000's after the young leader returned from boarding school in Switzerland. But she disappeared from the public eye around 2006 near the time Kim Jong Il began grooming his son to be Supreme Leader. (Kim Jong Il reportedly disapproved of the relationship and ordered Hyon to leave the orchestra to keep her away from his son.)
Shortly after the breakup Hyon is said to have married an officer in the North Korean army and given birth to his son. But after Kim Jong Il's death in late 2011 rumors spread among Pyongyang's military elite that Kim and Hyon had rekindled their romance.
A young woman photographed next to Kim at a concert in Pyongyang last summer was thought by South Korean intelligence officials to have been Hyon. Experts speculated that the photos were circulated as a play to make Kim seem more approachable. However reports later said the woman was Ri Sol Ju Kim's current wife. (Ri was also a member of the Unhasu Orchestra before she married Kim but it's unlcear if she knew Hyon personally.)
Hyon's ties to Kim raise the question whether it's possible there is an ulterior motive for the execution. In North Korea executions have been carried out as a way to eliminate perceived threats to the power of the Supreme Leader and his inner circle but with such a dearth of facts in this case it is hard to say anything for certain.
Watch Hyon Song Wol in the video below
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Parade participants carry the North Korean national flags Saturday July 27 2013 during a mass military parade celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice in Pyongyang North Korea. (AP Photo/Wong Maye E)
North Korean women wave to their leader Kim Jong Un during a mass military parade on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang to mark the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice Saturday July 27 2013. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
North Korean veterans of the Korean War wave to their leader Kim Jong Un during a mass military parade on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang to mark the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice Saturday July 27 2013. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
Military tanks parade through the Kim Il Sung Square Saturday July 27 2013 during a mass military parade celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice in Pyongyang North Korea. (AP Photo/Wong Maye E)
A North Korean missile rolls by as colored smoke trails left by flying aircraft streak the sky during a mass military parade on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang to mark the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice Saturday July 27 2013. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
Thousands of North Koreans carry flowers and parade on Kim Il Sung Square Saturday July 27 2013 during the mass military parade celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice in Pyongyang North Korea.(AP Photo/Wong Maye E)
North Korean dancers parade through the Kim Il Sung Sqaure Saturday July 27 2013 during a mass military parade celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice in Pyongyang North Korea. (AP Photo/Wong Maye E)
North Korean veterans of the Korean War walk under portraits of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il at the end of a mass military parade on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang to mark the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice on Saturday July 27 2013. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
A North Korean soldier salutes while in a military tank as they parade through Kim Il Sung Sqaure Saturday July 27 2013 during the mass military parade celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice in Pyongyang North Korea.(AP Photo/Wong Maye E)
North Korean soldiers march past the Kim Il Sung Square Saturday July 27 2013 during the mass military parade celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice in Pyongyang North Korea.(AP Photo/Wong Maye E)
North Korean military soldiers march past the Kim Il Sung Square Saturday July 27 2013 during the mass military parade celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice in Pyongyang North Korea.(AP Photo/Wong Maye E)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves to the crowd during a military parade at Kim Il Sung square marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean war armistice in Pyongyang on July 27 2013. North Korea mounted its largest ever military parade on July 27 to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War displaying its long range missiles at a ceremony presided over by leader Kim Jong Un. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)
North Korean soldiers march during a military parade past Kim Il Sung square marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean war armistice in Pyongyang on July 27 2013. North Korea mounted its largest ever military parade on July 27 to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War displaying its long range missiles at a ceremony presided over by leader Kim Jong Un. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)
North Korean soldiers march during a military parade past Kim Il Sung square marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean war armistice in Pyongyang on July 27 2013. North Korea mounted its largest ever military parade on July 27 to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War displaying its long range missiles at a ceremony presided over by leader Kim Jong Un. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)
A North Korean soldier salutes from a tank during a military parade past Kim Il Sung square marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean war armistice in Pyongyang on July 27 2013. North Korea mounted its largest ever military parade on July 27 to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War displaying its long range missiles at a ceremony presided over by leader Kim Jong Un. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)
North Korean soldiers march through Kim Il Sung square during a military parade marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean war armistice in Pyongyang on July 27 2013. North Korea mounted its largest ever military parade on July 27 to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War displaying its long range missiles at a ceremony presided over by leader Kim Jong Un. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)
North Korean soldiers march during a military parade past Kim Il Sung square marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean war armistice in Pyongyang on July 27 2013. North Korea mounted its largest ever military parade on July 27 to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War displaying its long range missiles at a ceremony presided over by leader Kim Jong Un. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)
North Korean soldiers march during a military parade past Kim Il Sung square marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean war armistice in Pyongyang on July 27 2013. North Korea mounted its largest ever military parade on July 27 to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War displaying its long range missiles at a ceremony presided over by leader Kim Jong Un. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)
North Korean soldiers march during a military parade past Kim Il Sung square marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean war armistice in Pyongyang on July 27 2013. North Korea mounted its largest ever military parade on July 27 to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War displaying its long range missiles at a ceremony presided over by leader Kim Jong Un. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)
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