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April 30, 2015

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Kim orders killing of 15 officials in NKorea

North Korea鈥檚 Kim Jong Un ordered the execution of 15 senior officials this year, including several who complained about the young leader鈥檚 policies, South Korea鈥檚 intelligence agency said yesterday.

Those executed included two vice minister-level officials, the Yonhap news agency said, citing legislators who attended a briefing by the National Intelligence Service (NIS).

Both were punished for opposing or complaining about Kim鈥檚 directives, while a vice forestry minister was executed for complaining about Kim鈥檚 forestation plan.

As well as the 15 senior officials, the NIS said four members of North Korea鈥檚 Unhasu Orchestra, with which Kim鈥檚 wife, Ri Sol Ju, had once been a singer, were executed last month.

The NIS said they were executed by firing squad on charges of spying.

In 2013, Japanese and South Korean media said a number of members of the orchestra had been executed for violating pornography laws in a bid by Kim to protect his wife鈥檚 reputation.

Kim had his uncle and one-time political mentor Jang Song Thaek executed in late 2013 on an array of charges, including treason and corruption.

Jang had played a key role in cementing the leadership of the inexperienced Kim, who took over after the death of his father Kim Jong Il in 2011. But analysts said Jang鈥檚 growing political power and intervention in lucrative trade deals was resented by his young nephew.

The NIS said also that Kim Jong Un鈥檚 sister, Kim Yo Jong appeared to have married her college classmate and was expecting a baby.


 

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