22 March 2023 , 14:28
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A bodyguard could face slaughter by firing squad for letting dictator Kim Jong-un to leave home with white stains on his coat.
Images shared by state-run media outlet KCNA showed the North Korean tyrant with a mysterious stain on his arm, which sparked fears Kim's staff could be punished for failing to protect his dignity in public.
Michael Madden, who studies developments in the Hermit Kingdom on his website - the North Korea Leadership Watch - said those found responsible could be demoted or sentenced to hard labour in one of Kim's infamous penal colonies.
He added that even the most severe punishment, execution by firing squad, couldn't be ruled out.
"My initial reaction was OMFG," Mr Madden said.
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"Personnel who have irritated the supreme leader are usually punished with demotions, hardship assignments or labour education.
On seeing the images, one North Korea expert was shocked and thought someone will definitely be in trouble with the tyrant (KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Image)"It is unlikely that anyone will get shot over something like this – unless the leader is feeling particularly mercurial.
"But if he got angry about this then a few people will probably get sent to a construction site or a farm for a month or two to think about this minor transgression."
He added: "It is not unheard of to be sent away for execution.
"There are accounts of the leader’s father, Kim Jong-il, having bodyguards and members of his personal staff sent to prisons and in one case to the firing squad for very minor offences.
"One unconfirmed story is that a member of his personal staff sat at his desk and smoked one of his cigarettes. Kim Jong-il discovered this and had the man shot."
The photographs were taken during a missile launch (KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Image)Mr Madden added that the culprit could excuse the leader's wrath by penning a letter of apology.
He added that Kim could even let it slide because he is "far less prone to mood swings" or issues with "emotional regulation", when compared to his ruthless dad.
Earlier this month, an intelligence agent faced firing squad after being caught using internet privileges to Google the leader.
North Korea strictly curtails internet access to prevent its citizens from learning about the outside world and agents can’t get online without permission from their handlers.
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Several agents from the regime’s secretive Bureau 10, which keeps watch on all internal and external electronic communications, were caught browsing the web without authorisation.
Now the one who researched the country's leader faces death by firing squad, a ministry source told Daily NK, a newspaper based in neighbouring South Korea.
A Pyongyang source said the agents were ratted out by a colleague in the Ministry of State Security, thus prompting an inspection into their activity which found the illicit research.