No, Kim Jong Un probably didn’t feed his uncle to 120 hungry dogs

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

No, Kim Jong Un probably didn’t feed his uncle to 120 hungry dogs

BY MAX FISHER
January 3 at 11:21 am

If you've been on the Internet at all today, you've almost certainly seen the story claiming that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had his uncle executed last month by stripping him naked and feeding him to 120 hungry dogs. The story was first reported by a minor Hong Kong outlet on Dec. 12, was picked up by a Singaporean newspaper on Dec. 24 and since late Thursday has been sweeping through nearly every corner of the U.S. media. The only problem is that it's probably – probably – not true.

It was indeed a big surprise last month when South Korean intelligence revealed that Kim had purged his own uncle, Jang Song Thaek, which North Korea confirmed a couple of days later with a long screed in its state media. The highly public nature of the purge, which ended with Pyongyang announcing Jang's execution, was totally unprecedented and legitimately shocking, which is a high bar for North Korea news.

Crazy-sounding stories happen with some frequency in North Korea, where the government has a well-earned reputation for taking political punishments to medieval extremes. But there are five big reasons that this story just does not seem particularly plausible. The fact that the Western media have so widely accepted a story they would reject if it came out of any other country tells us a lot about how North Korea is covered -- and how it's misunderstood.

First and foremost, let's consider the source. The story originated in a Hong Kong newspaper called Wen Wei Po, which oddly makes the claim without citing a source. With a couple of high-quality exceptions, Hong Kong media have a reputation for sensationalist and tabloidy stories that do not always turn out to be true. But, even by Hong Kong standards, Wen Wei Po is considered an unusually unreliable outlet. A recent study found that, out of Hong Kong's 21 newspapers, Wen Wei Po ranks 19th for credibility. (Thanks to Asia-watcher Taylor Washburn for flagging this.)

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Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/01/03/no-kim-jong-un-probably-didnt-feed-his-uncle-to-120-hungry-dogs/

[underpants]

1. Someone has seen Django Unchained too many times

The last comment there is hilarious - I am surprised that Fox News hasn't worked Obama into this false narrative

[Cleita]

2. Feeding him to the pigs would have been far more

efficient and economical. I kid. This is what happens when a government does its atrocities behind closed doors. The story gets even crazier than what probably actually happened.

[bemildred]

3. Lil Kim seems very anxious to instill fear ... nt