30 North Korean Officials Die in 'Car Crashes'

And regime's nuke ready for testing, maybe tomorrow
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted May 27, 2012 4:36 PM CDT
30 North Korean Officials Die in 'Car Crashes'
This undated picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on May 26, 2012 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un having a photo session with service persons of KPA Unit 6556.   (Getty Images/AFP photo/KCNA via KNS)

Thirty North Korean officials who took part in talks with South Korea were either executed or died in "staged traffic accidents" for failing to improve relations, according to Amnesty International. The human rights group's annual report found that another 200 were arrested in January as the regime transferred power from Kim Jong-il to his son, Kim Jong-un. Pyongyang typically rounds up officials who fail to satisfy the regime, even when they're only carrying out orders, the Telegraph reports.

The regime also seems to be prepping a nuclear test blast. A South Korean spokesman says all preparations are complete for a long-awaited test, and satellite photos of the Punggye-ri site show that Pyongyang has filled up a tunnel there—meaning the nuke is ready to go. It may even launch on Memorial Day: "Holidays or sad commemorations like Memorial Day weekend is when the leadership tries to provoke the democratic allies into action," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. (More Kim Jong Il stories.)

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