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N. Korea to grant pardons next month to mark landmark year

North Korea plans to grant pardons next month to mark the 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule and the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea, the North's media said Tuesday.

North Korea has decided to carry out an amnesty for convicts in the landmark year, which will take effect Aug. 1, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency. It did not specify how many people will be granted pardons.

"The DPRK cabinet and relevant organs will take practical measures to help the released people settle down in their works and living," the KCNA said.

The DPRK is the acronym of North Korea's official name: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The move comes amid reports that some mid-ranking North Korean officials have sought asylum to escape the young leader's reign of terror. It is widely designed to placate the public sentiment and reinforce loyalty for the leader, experts say.

The planned pardons would be the first since 2012, when the North made a similar move to mark the 100th birthday of the North's late founder Kim Il-sung and the 70th birthday of Kim Jong-il, the late father of the current leader Kim Jong-un.

In 2005, Pyongyang carried out an amnesty to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Korea's liberation and the founding of its party.

Liberation Day falls on Aug. 15, and the date for the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea is Oct. 10.

South Korea's state spy agency earlier said that the North's leader Kim has tightened his grip on his power base in a brutal way, including the execution of about 70 senior officials, since taking office in late 2011.

On Saturday, North Korea confirmed the purge of former defense chief Hyun Yong-chol as it called Pak Yong-sik the minister of the People's Armed Forces. (Yonhap)