NKorea executes defense chief for treason
Print Edition
North Korea executed its defense chief by putting him in front of an anti-aircraft gun at a firing range, South Korea鈥檚 National Intelligence Service told lawmakers, making it the latest in a series of high-level purges since Kim Jong Un took charge.
Hyon Yong Chol, who headed the country鈥檚 military, was charged with treason, including disobeying Kim and falling asleep during an event at which North Korea鈥檚 young leader was present, according to South Korean lawmakers briefed in a closed-door meeting with the spy agency yesterday.
His execution was watched by hundreds of people, according to NIS intelligence.
鈥淭he NIS official said it had been confirmed by multiple sources. It is still just intelligence, but he said they were confident,鈥 said Shin Kyoung-min, a lawmaker and member of the opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, who attended the briefing.
Experts on North Korea said there was no sign of instability in Pyongyang.
Kim had previously ordered the execution of 15 senior officials this year as punishment for challenging his authority, according to the NIS. In all, some 70 officials have been executed since Kim took over after his father鈥檚 death in 2011, Yonhap news agency cited the NIS as saying.
The lawmakers said Hyon, 66, was executed at a firing range at the Kanggon Military Training Area, 22 kilometers north of Pyongyang, the NIS claimed.
Hyon was said to have shown disrespect to Kim by dozing off at a military event, the lawmakers said, citing the agency briefing.
Hyon was also believed to have voiced complaints against Kim and had not followed his orders several times, according to the lawmakers.
He was arrested in late April and executed three days later without legal proceedings, the NIS told lawmakers.
Last month, Hyon travelled to Moscow, where he spoke at a security conference. He was reported by North Korean state media to have appeared at an event in late April 鈥 shortly before the NIS told lawmakers he was executed 鈥 an outward indication that all was normal.
The current leader is the third generation of the Kim family that has ruled with near-absolute power since the country was formed in 1948.
Pyongyang鈥檚 military leadership has been in a state of perpetual reshuffle since Kim Jong Un took power. He has changed his armed forces chief four times since coming to power, while his father Kim Jong Il, who ruled the country for almost two decades, replaced his chief just three times.
The South Korean spy agency told lawmakers that Ma Won Chun, known as North Korea鈥檚 chief architect of new infrastructure under Kim, was also purged or punished, the lawmakers said. Ma also once served as vice director of the Finance and Accounting Department in the ruling Workers鈥 Party and, until recently, was effectively the government鈥檚 money man.
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