South Korea's Chosun Ilbo reports that singer Hyon Song-wol and Mun Kyong-jin, head of the Unhasu Orchestra, were arrested on August 17 "for violating North Korean laws against pornography and were executed in public three days later."

Both Hyon and Mun were well-known artists of North Korea. Hyon was a singer with the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble, which Chosun Ilbo cites as being "famous for revolutionary and propaganda songs and one of North Korea's most popular bands," while Mun won first place in an international competition in Hungary in 2005.