Mun Kyong-jin (문경진; born 1981) is a possibly deceased

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist who was formerly the head of the

Unhasu Orchestra The Unhasu (Milky Way) Orchestra () was a musical group based in Pyongyang, North Korea. It performs primarily with Western instruments, sometimes performing alongside traditional Korean soloists. The orchestra has a concert hall, the ''Unhasu T ...

. He was reported to have been executed in August 2013 along with the singer

Hyon Song-wol Hyon Song-wol (; born 1977) is a North Korean singer, band leader, and politician. She is the leader of the Moranbong Band and of the Samjiyon Orchestra. She was formerly a featured vocalist for the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble in the early 200 ...

and others. However, it subsequently emerged that Hyon Song-wol had not been executed because she appeared on state television a year later. Mun had received numerous awards and recognitions from the North Korean government during his career. In 2005, Mun won a competition held in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. He performed with the

at the

Salle Pleyel The Salle Pleyel (, meaning "Pleyel Hall") is a concert hall in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, designed by acoustician Gustave Lyon together with architect Jacques Marcel Auburtin, who died in 1926, and the work was completed in 1927 by ...

concert hall in Paris on March 14, 2012. At the time, Mun told ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

'', "Despite differing languages, we hope that we can easily understand each other through music and become friends," in an interview conducted shortly before the Parisian performance.

Reported execution

South Korea's ''

The Chosun Ilbo ''The Chosun Ilbo'' (, ) is a daily newspaper in South Korea and the oldest daily newspaper in the country. With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000, the ''Chosun Ilbo'' has been audited annually since the Audit Bureau of Circulations w ...

'' reported on August 29, 2013, that Mun Kyong-jin, along with a dozen other prominent North Korean musicians, had been arrested on August 17, on charges of allegedly violating laws against pornography. According to the report, other arrested musicians were arrested as political dissidents or accused of possessing

Bibles The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a v ...

. The report said that Mun Kyong-jin was executed by firing squad on August 20, 2013. In addition, it claimed that a dozen other musicians were also executed with Mun, including several of Mun's colleagues from the Unhasu Orchestra; and dancers and singers from the

Wangjaesan Light Music Band The Wangjaesan Light Music Band () is a light music (''kyŏngŭmak'') group in North Korea. It is one of two (with Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble) popular music groups that were established by North Korea in the 1980s, both named after places where ...

. The Unhasu Orchestra was reportedly disbanded following Mun's execution.

References

External links

*. Place of birth missing Year of birth missing North Korean violinists Purges in North Korea Executed North Korean people 21st-century executions by North Korea People executed for treason against North Korea {{NorthKorea-bio-stub