US President Donald Trump said on October 15 (local time) that the firing-squad execution of a gunman who opened fire on a US military base will not be televised live, Korea's Chosun Ilbo and Kyunghyang Shinmun reported in breaking news.
According to Chosun Ilbo and Kyunghyang Shinmun, Trump said that even if a firing-squad execution is carried out on the man who fired on a US base, the footage would not be streamed live. Both headlines carried the same message, but the setting of the remarks, the question put to him and the identity of the condemned were not detailed in the reports reviewed.
광고 문의 · 300×250Whether and when any execution will take place also cannot be determined from these reports alone. It is unconfirmed whether the remark presupposed an already fixed execution plan or was a general statement, and further reporting is needed.
Earlier reports on firing-squad preparations
Reports in recent days offer context. Korea's YTN said on October 10 that the Pentagon had signaled firing-squad executions of death-row inmates, and ABC-affiliated US local stations reported that the Army was laying groundwork for executions if Trump gave approval. We have not independently verified the details of those reports.
How a military-level execution would proceed for a defendant in a shooting on a military installation, and whether a firing squad has actually been settled on, involves tangled legal questions. This newspaper does not assert procedures that have not been confirmed.
What the denial of a live broadcast signals
How public an execution should be has long been debated in the United States. By drawing a line against live coverage himself, the president may be seeking to keep talk of firing squads from turning into concern over a public spectacle. That is interpretation; an official White House explanation was not found in the Chosun Ilbo or Kyunghyang reports.
We will report further as the circumstances of the case, the person concerned and any execution schedule are confirmed.
