Mother faces jail for saving kids from fire instead of dictator's portrait

A North Korean mother faces a possible prison sentence for allowing portraits of the country’s dictators to burn in a house fire while saving her two children from the blaze.

The fire erupted in a home shared by two families in Onsong Country, North Hamgyong province situated near the Chinese border, according to a report.

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North Korean law requires every household to hang portraits of past leaders Kim II-Sung and Kim Jong-II as inspector are appointed to visit houses to reinforce the measure.

Failure to treat these portraits with the same reverence expected towards the leaders themselves is a serious crime.

When the fire broke out, both sets of parents were away from home and rushed back to save their families once they spotted smoke. In the process, one set of portraits was reduced to ashes.

The  woman will have to face lengthy prison sentence with hard labour if found guilty while the investigation process will mean that she cannot tend to her children in the hospital nor obtain the antibiotics needed to treat their burns.

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Her neighbours said they were eager to help but stayed away fearing that the woman could be charged with a political crime.

However, a farm labourer who saved the other family’s portraits has been hailed as a hero despite the fact that he had recently serving time for a violent crime.