朝鮮人武部部長玄永哲被處決始末

North Korea has executed its defence minister by anti-aircraft fire for crimes including falling asleep at a meeting in front of supreme leader Kim Jong Un, Seoul’s intelligence agency has claimed.

首爾情報機關聲稱，朝鮮已經用高射炮處決了其人民武力部長玄永哲(Hyon Yong Chol)，其罪名包括當着偉大領袖金正恩(Kim Jong Un)的面在會上打瞌睡。

Hyon Yong Chol had enjoyed a rapid rise to prominence under Mr Kim: relatively unknown when he was promoted to vice-marshal in 2012, he became one of Pyongyang's most senior officials last year with a ministerial position and a seat on the National Defence Commission, the country’s most powerful organ. His name regularly appeared near the top of the list of officials accompanying Mr Kim to public events.

在金正恩任內，玄永哲曾以極快的速度升至高位。2012年被升爲次帥時，玄永哲名氣還不算大。去年，憑藉人民武力部部長一職及朝鮮最高權力機構國人民武力防委員會(National Defence Commission)的席位，玄永哲躋身平壤最高官員之列。他的名字定期出現在陪伴金正恩出席公開活動的官員名單的最前列。

But Mr Hyon was executed using an anti-aircraft gun in front of hundreds of people near the end of last month, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told lawmakers in a briefing on Wednesday. This appears to be the latest in an increasingly heavy stream of executions, widely interpreted as part of efforts by the young leader to protect his authority over the state since taking power on his father’s death in December 2011.

然而，韓國國家情報局(National Intelligence Service)週三在一次問詢中告訴韓國議員，在近上個月底時，玄永哲已被當着數百人的面，用高射炮處決。這一事件似乎是朝鮮日益增多的處決事件中的最新一例。這些處決事件被普遍解釋爲金正恩保護政權舉措的一部分。自從2011年12月在其父逝世後掌權以來，這位年輕的領導人試圖通過這些措施，保護其在朝鮮政府中的權威。

“Every time we hear rumours of more executions, we have to wonder whether it’s a sign of authority or an inability to keep things under control,” Victor Cha, a White House adviser on Asia under George W Bush, told the Financial Times last week.

上週，維克托·查(Victor Cha)告訴英國《金融時報》，“每次我們聽到處決高官的傳言，就會想這是否是朝鮮鞏固權威或對問題失去控制能力的信號。”維克托·查曾在小布什任內擔任美國亞洲事務負責人。

The executions are part of a broader, unusually severe churn of positions in North Korea’s senior ranks. About half the top 218 military and bureaucratic officials were replaced within two years of Mr Kim taking power, according to South Korean estimates.

對高官的處決，也是朝鮮更大範圍的對高層權力深層洗牌的一部分。根據韓國方面的估計，在金正恩掌權兩年時間內，在朝鮮218名軍隊和政府部門官員中，大約一半的官員遭到撤換。

The most spectacular purge was that of Jang Song Thaek, Mr Kim’s uncle and top adviser, who was executed in December 2013 on charges that ranged from distributing pornography to plotting a coup.

金正恩對其姑父及最高顧問張成澤(Jang Song Thaek)的處決是令外界最震驚的一次整肅，張成澤在2013年12月被處決，罪名中有控亂搞男女關係，也有陰謀政變。

Shin Kyung-min, a lawmaker, cited NIS claims that 15 officials had already been killed this year, compared with 41 in all of 2014 and 10 the year before. “Kim seems to be maintaining a ‘Reign of Terror’ strategy, executing people . . . when he feels threatened,” he said.

韓國國會議員申慶敏（Shin Kyung-min）引述一名情報官員的話說，朝鮮今年已經處決了15名高級官員，2014年處決了41名，2013年這個數字是10名。“金正恩似乎在實施一種‘威懾統治’策略……他將自己感到威脅其權威的人處決，來展示權威。”

The claim that Hyon was executed after falling asleep in front of Mr Kim echoes the state denunciation of Jang, who was condemned for “halfheartedly clapping” when a new title was bestowed on the supreme leader.

有關玄永哲因當着金正恩的面打瞌睡而被處決的說法，呼應了朝鮮官方對金正恩姑父張成澤的貶斥。朝鮮官方曾譴責張成澤在金正恩獲新頭銜時“鼓掌不積極”。

This extreme response to signs of disrespect reflects the struggle faced by Mr Kim — generally believed to be 32 — to assert his authority over much older senior figures, according to Ahn Myeong-chul, a former North Korean prison camp guard who now heads the non-profit group NK Watch.

朝鮮觀察(NK Watch)負責人安明哲(Ahn Myeong-chul)表示，這種對不敬行爲的極端迴應方式反映了金正恩面臨的困境：這位據信32歲的領導人要向年長得多的資深人物宣示自己的權威。朝鮮觀察是一家非盈利組織，其現任負責人安明哲曾是朝鮮的獄警。

“He’s not being paranoid — from high-level officials to ordinary people, they really don’t respect him.”

“並不是他（金正恩）偏執多疑，不管是高層官員還是普通人，都不是真的尊敬他（金正恩）。”

Hyon’s apparent downfall came less than a month after he attended a conference in Moscow where he condemned the presence of US forces in South Korea as a “cancer growth”. In September last year he represented the country in a meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

就在玄永哲可能的落馬之前不到一個月，他曾在莫斯科出席會議。當時，他曾譴責美國在韓國的軍事存在是“不斷增長的癌症”。去年9月，他曾代表朝鮮會見俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾•普京(Vladimir Putin)。

A report by Hong Kong’s Phoenix TV this month claimed Hyon had made a failed attempt to buy missiles and launch equipment from Russia during his latest visit, prompting Mr Kim to stay away from a second world war commemorative event in Moscow on May 9.

這個月，香港鳳凰衛視(Phoenix TV)聲稱，玄永哲在最近一次訪俄時，未能從俄羅斯處買到導彈及發射裝置。這導致金正恩缺席5月9日在莫斯科舉辦的二戰紀念活動。

North Korean executions are a common object of unreliable speculation. However, the reported use of an anti-aircraft gun corresponds with a study last month by AllSource Analysis and the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, which contained satellite images appearing to show execution victims lined up in front of a battery of six anti-aircraft guns at Kanggon Military Training Area near Pyongyang, the alleged site of Hyon’s death.

朝鮮的處決事件，往往是衆多不可靠猜測中的常見話題。不過，報道中所稱的高射炮處決方式，與AllSource Analysis和朝鮮人權委員會(Committee for Human Rights in North Korea)上個月發表的一份研究報告相呼應。這份報告中包括了幾張衛星圖片，圖片中似乎顯示了在平壤附近的Kanggon軍事訓練場(Kanggon Military Training Area)，多名被處決人員排在6架高射炮組成的隊列前的情形，而Kanggon軍事訓練場則是玄永哲喪生的可能地點。