Hyon Yong-chol has been executed
for showing disloyalty to Kim Jong-
un, South Korea's spy agency has
told parliament.
MPs were told Mr Hyon was killed on 30
April by anti-aircraft fire in front of an
audience of hundreds, the Yonhap news
agency reports.
It said Mr Hyon had fallen asleep during
an event attended by Kim Jong-un and had
not carried out instructions.
Reports from North Korea are impossible
to independently confirm.
Analysts told the BBC that while
reshuffling of officials happens often in
North Korea, the execution of a figure so
close to Mr Kim was surprising and cause
for concern about the country's stability.
NK News said Mr Hyon had
last appeared in state media a day
before the alleged execution date.
Hyon Yong-Chol, as defence minister, was
as close to Kim Jong-un as it is possible to
get.
Such a public and brutal method of
execution as obliteration by anti-aircraft
gun would emphasise the cost of
disloyalty.
Intelligence reports always have to be
treated with scepticism but, in this case,
the claims of the South Korean spy agency
will be easy to verify. If they are not true,
the defence minister would appear again
in public.
Earlier, the South Korean agency said that
senior officials were being executed at the
rate of one a week. It all adds up to a
picture of a leader in Pyongyang who feels
very insecure and who is dangerous in his
insecurity.
Hyon Yong-chol: the general who
rose from obscurity
Mr Hyon is believed to have been a
general since 2010, though little is known
about him. He served on the committee
for late leader Kim Jong-il's funeral in
December 2011, an indication of his
growing influence.
He was appointed defence minister last
year.
Mike Madden of North Korea Leadership
Watch told the BBC that if true, the
execution was "entirely a demonstration
of power and authority".
"This is indicative of Kim Jong-un's
impulsive decision-making", he said, and a
sign of a leader who is "not feeling
secure".
Mr Kim has conducted a series of purges
of close officials since becoming North
Korea's leader.
The most notable was his uncle, Chang
Song-thaek - once the country's second-
most powerful figure.
He was arrested in December 2013 in
front of a party meeting, found guilty of
treason and immediately executed. The
move was widely seen as the young Mr
Kim stamping his authority.
Last month, a rights groups released
satellite images it said showed unusual
activity on a small arms range at the
Kanggon army training area in October
2014.
The Committee for Human Rights in
North Korea said the images - which could
not be confirmed - showed large weaponry
facing a very close target, a viewing area
and several passenger vehicles.
It said the "most plausible explanation"
for the image was a "gruesome public
execution" by anti-aircraft fire.
Source; BBC News
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