North Korea executes army chief over corruption

North Korea’s army chief of staff has been executed, South
Korean media reported Wednesday, in what would amount
to the latest in a series of purges and executions of top
officials by leader Kim Jong-Un.
Ri Yong-Gil, Chief of the Korean People’s Army General
Staff, was executed earlier this month for forming a
political faction and corruption, Yonhap news agency said,
citing a source familiar with North Korean affairs.
The report came at a time of highly elevated tensions on the
divided Korean peninsula following the North’s recent
nuclear test and long-range rocket launch.
Ri was often seen accompanying Kim Jong-Un on
inspection tours, but his name was conspicuously missing
from state media reports of a recent major party meeting
and celebrations over Sunday’s rocket launch.
“The execution… suggests that Kim Jong-Un still feels
insecure about his grip on the country’s powerful military,”
Yonhap quoted the source as saying.
“It shows that Kim’s reign of terror still persists,” the source
was quoted as saying.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) in Seoul declined to
comment on the report.
In May last year the NIS said Kim had his defence chief,
Hyon Yong-Chol, executed — reportedly with the use of an
anti-aircraft gun.
Hyon’s fate was never confirmed by Pyongyang but he has
never been seen or heard of since. Some analysts have
suggested he was purged and imprisoned.
Reports — some confirmed, some not — of purges,
executions and disappearances have been common since
Kim took power following the death of his father Kim Jong-Il
in December 2011.
A large number of senior officials, especially military cadres,
were removed or demoted as the young leader sought to
solidify his control over the powerful army.
In the most high-profile case, Kim had his influential uncle,
Jang Song-Thaek, executed in December 2013 for charges
including treason and corruption.