And one of the men was simply accused of falling asleep during a meeting.
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Two years earlier, Kim’s uncle, Jang Song-thaek, was executed after being branded a “traitor for all ages”.
The official said North Korea executed the 63-year-old Kim Yong-jin by firing squad last month after being branded as an “anti-party and anti-revolutionary element”.
If the report is true, it would mark the first execution ordered by Kim Jong-un from outside the Workers’ Party and military.
The report has yet to be independently verified and there have been instances where reports regarding executions in the reclusive country have turned out to be false.
The other official, former agriculture minister Hwang Min, was accused of proposing policies that directly challenged Kim Jong-un’s leadership.
His police ideas were deemed to contradict those of Kim Jong Un, reports JoongAng Ilbo.
“He incurred the wrath of Kim after he dozed off during a meeting presided over by Kim”, it quoted a source as saying. The execution was carried out on charges of factionalism, corruption as well as plotting to overthrow the government.
“Kim Yong-Jin was denounced for his bad sitting posture when he was sitting below the rostrum” during a session of North Korea’s parliament, and then underwent an interrogation that revealed other “crimes”, the official told reporters.
Kim, who took power in 2011 after the death of his father, Kim Jong I, and his consolidation of power have included purges and executions of top officials.
The two were reportedly arrested publicly, for different reasons.
Young North Koreans also depend less on the economic planning of the regime for their livelihood and have grown up in an era of unofficial markets.
“As Kim is expected to further show his loyalty (to the North’s leader) after (reeducation), the government is keeping close tabs on the possibility that North Korea will show a more hard-line attitude toward South Korea”, the official said.
“The North’s leader is expected to keep his iron-fist rule, but the degree of his reign of terror can be affected by changes in situations at home and overseas”, said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute.
At a meeting with senior secretaries at the Blue House, Park said, “Improving human rights conditions in North Korea is a humanitarian issue that can not be put off any more and a cornerstone to bringing about an era of peace on the Korean Peninsula”.
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Another source in North Pyongyang Province said North Korean authorities have been conducting intensive, organized lectures for the public that say, “The (South Korean) enemies are launching operations to demolish the North Korean regime by harming the dignity, autonomy and right to live for North Koreans”.
