“The decision for this development was made by Kim Jong-un and his advisors, who wanted to create an environment in which the US and worldwide society can’t easily underestimate the North’s preemptive nuclear strike capability”, he added.
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The 63-year-old was investigated by the Hermit Kingdom’s powerful spy agency after his posture at a key meeting made it looked like he was asleep. “He was executed after other charges, such as corruption, were found during the probe”.
Kim Jong-un reportedly had his head of military killed by antiaircraft guns a year ago.
The source said the information reached Seoul’s unification ministry through various channels although it is impossible to confirm the news owing to the extreme opacity of the regime.
But Kim Yong-hyun, professor in North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, said that some shake-up was to be expected after Kim Jong Un held a Workers’ Party Congress in May, the first since 1980.
The official sentence which carried him to the firing squad was “an anti-party, anti-revolutionary agitator” as allegedly reported by an official minister who wishes to remain anonymous.
Earlier this month, Seoul announced that a senior North Korean diplomat based in the United Kingdom had defected to South Korea.
Kim Yong Chol, the head of North Korea’s United Front Department, which handles inter-Korean relations, underwent “revolutionary measures”, for his overbearing demeanor, Jeong told reporters. The spymaster, who was reinstated this month, is likely to be tempted to prove his loyalty by committing provocative acts against the South, said the official. Her comments came as South Korea and the US hold annual military drills that North Korea calls a prelude to an invasion. Kim disappeared from public eye for about 50 days before the North’s state media on Sunday mentioned his name in a list of officials who attended ceremonies marking the Youth Day.
One of them was Kim Yong-Chol, a top official in charge of inter-Korean affairs and espionage activities against the South, The unification ministry added. The most recent was sacked from a submarine and flew more than 310 miles before landing in the Sea of Japan, officials said.
The rival Koreas have shared the world’s most heavily fortified border since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, and they bar ordinary citizens from exchanging phone calls, letters and emails without special permission.
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Ri Yong-gil was widely reported to have been executed in February but when he made an appearance at North Korea’s party congress it highlighted just how hard it is to get accurate information from the North.
