According to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, the North’s vice premier for educational affairs, Kim Yong-jin, was executed by firing squad in July after being investigated for showing bad posture during an important parliamentary meeting in late June.
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Ri Yong Jin, a senior official in the education ministry – possibly minister – was, according to The Independent report, arrested for dozing off during a meeting with Kim and charged with corruption before being killed, the paper said.
A South Korean official said: “Kim Yong-jin was denounced for his bad sitting posture when he was sitting below the rostrum”.
But the new report corrects claims made in the South Korean media that two other North Korean officials met a similar fate. Some previous reports of executions and purges in the reclusive state have proved inaccurate. “Kim Yong-chol got in trouble for abusing his authority and was punished by being sent to the countryside for reeducation between mid-July and mid-August”.
If confirmed, the moves would suggest that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is resuming his campaign of killings and purges in what analysts have said is a bid to consolidate his hold on power amid fears of internal turmoil.
Is ruthless Kim Jong-un getting soft?
Still, many experts in South Korea believe the defections won’t immediately destabilize the North Korean regime.
Kim Yong-chol was in charge of anti-Seoul spy operations and while with the North’s army intelligence agency, he allegedly orchestrated two attacks that killed 50 people in South Korea in 2010.
Jeong did not give details on why, where, and when the execution took place.
“Considering that Kim Yong-chol must be under pressure to show loyalty [to the Kim leadership] upon his return to power, the government is paying close attention to any signs of provocations by the North”, said the official.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has executed his deputy premier for education and purged two other senior officials, sending them to re-education camps, the South Korean government said Wednesday.
Another top official dealing with propaganda, Choe Hwi, was also reportedly put on a “revolutionary reeducation” program.
The last confirmed execution in the country was of Kim Jong-un’s own uncle, Jang Song-thaek, in December 2013.
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Sending Kim Yong Chol, a close aide, to a re-education camp signaled that even people in his inner circle can not be spared for perceived infractions.
