North Korea has executed a vice-premier for showing disrespect during a meeting presided over by leader Kim Jong-un and banished two other officials for re-education, South Korea said.
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Free North Korea Radio director Kim Seong-min told South Korean news service No Cut News heavy rains have been pounding on North Korea’s North Hamgyong and Yanggang Provinces.
The official said before the execution, Yong-Jin first faced an investigation because of the way he was seated during a June meeting attended by the Leader Kim Jong Un.
South Korea confirmed the execution of Kim Yong Jin, the country’s education head, “through various channels”, Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said, according to Reuters.
Two other senior officials were also punished for “lapses”.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has reportedly executed more officials.
The official noted that leader Kim Jong Un, who took power in 2011 after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, and his consolidation of power has included purges and executions of top officials.
News of the reclusive state’s new purges comes after the South said North Korea’s deputy ambassador in London had defected and arrived in the South with his family, dealing an embarrassing blow to Kim’s regime.
Yong Jin was then accused of being an “anti-party, anti-revolutionary agitator” and executed by a firing squad.
That confirmation will be important; Seoul in February said North Korean military chief of staff Ri Yong-Gil had been executed – only for Ri to turn up at a party rally in May.
Under the law, South Korea plans to establish an archive aimed at compiling the North’s human rights abuses and setting up a foundation to support relevant civic groups.
Kim Yong Chol was banished at a rural farm for about one month between mid-July and mid-August because of alleged highhanded attitudes and attempts to expand his United Front Department’s authority too much, according to the South Korean official who spoke about Kim Yong Jin’s execution.
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In April 2015, it was reported that Kim had his defence minister Hyon Yong-Chol summarily executed with an anti-aircraft gun.
