North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the execution of the country’s vice premier by shooting earlier this year, sources said Tuesday, in another sign of the leader’s reign of terror.
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South Korea’s Yonhap news agency cited an anonymous source “with knowledge of the North” in its report.
The ministry said on Wednesday it had been “closely monitoring the possibility of any changes in Choe’s circumstances”.
Choe Yong gon waves as he leaves to North Korea after the inter-Korean economic talks in 2005.
Few details about the execution were given by Yonhap, which is often first to report news from North Korea. “The authorities is intently watching to see what may need took place to him”. Choe’s death, if confirmed, would be the second execution of a top North Korean official reported this year.
The South’s spy agency also claimed in May that Kim had executed dozens of officials, including his own uncle, since taking power after the death of his father in December 2011.
Hyon is believed to have been executed with an anti-aircraft gun in April for his disloyalty toward Kim as he dozed off during a military event.
The country says it is suffering its worst drought in a century, and that close to a third of rice paddies have dried up.
Choe, who assumed the position in June 2014, was last seen at an anniversary event for the late leader Kim Jong Illinois in December, according to South Korea’s unification ministry, which handles cross-border relations.
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In total, the report said North Korea publically executed almost 1,400 people between 2000 and 2013, peaking at 161 under Kim Jong-Il in 2008. The country started a “greenification” plan last yr, with authorities planting trees in a bid to replenish soil nutrients & stop erosion, in accordance to Radio Free Asia.
