Kim Jong-Un executes defence chief for dozing off at official meeting

He was killed with an anti-aircraft gun in front of hundreds of spectators

South Korea's spy agency told the country's lawmakers Wednesday that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un executed his defence chief for falling asleep during a meeting and talking back to the young leader, says a report by AP.

According to reports, the defence minister was executed with anti-aircraft fire. Many observers feel it is an indication of the instability in the Pyongyang leadership. However, a section of experts dismissed the observation, saying there was no sign of instability, but there could be if the purges continued.

Kim ordered the execution of 15 senior officials this year as punishment for challenging his authority, according to the NIS. In all, around 70 officials have been executed since Kim took over after his father's death in 2011, Yonhap news agency cited Seoul's National Intelligence Service as saying. 

South Korean lawmaker Shin Kyoung-min says officials from NIS told a closed-door parliamentary committee that People's Armed Forces Minister Hyon Yong Chol was killed by anti-aircraft gunfire with hundreds watching at a shooting range at Pyongyang's Kang Kon Military Academy in late April. Shin was one of the lawmakers who attended the briefing.

If confirmed, it marks another demonstration of Kim's ruthlessness in dealing with even the most senior officials suspected of disloyalty, following the execution of his uncle and one-time political mentor Jang Song Thaek in 2013.

According to agencies, the incident also points to possible power struggles within the top leadership, following Kim's decision to cancel a scheduled visit to Moscow last week in order to deal with "internal issues".

After becoming the supreme leader following the death of his father in 2011, Kim has orchestrated a series of purges in apparent efforts to bolster his grip on power. “Analysts are split on whether the bloody power shifts indicate a young leader in firm control, or someone still struggling to establish himself. The most notable purge was in 2013 when Kim executed his uncle and chief deputy, Jang Song Thaek, for alleged treason,” said a report. 

Hyon Yong Chol was named as the chief of North Korea's armed forces in June 2014, Yonhap News Agency reported. The position is the second-highest in North Korea's military behind Hwang Pyong So, director of the general political department

Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Dongguk University in Seoul, told the AP that Kim Jong Un appears to be using purges to keep the military old guard in check as they pose the only plausible threats to his rule. Koh said Kim could be resorting to a "reign of terror" to solidify his leadership but that would eventually have only a limited effect if he fails to produce breakthroughs in resolving the country's economic woes.

Last month, spy officials told lawmakers that North Korea executed 15 senior officials accused of challenging Kim's authority. 

In a briefing to a parliamentary committee on Wednesday, Han Ki-Beom, the deputy director of the NIS said hundreds of people witnessed the execution of minister Hyon Yong-Chol, which was believed to have been carried out with an anti-aircraft gun around April 30 at a military academy in northern Pyongyang.

Such a violent method of execution has been cited in various unconfirmed reports as being reserved for senior officials who the leadership wishes to make examples of. 

"North Korean internal politics is very volatile these days. Internally, there does not seem to be any respect for Kim Jong Un within the core and middle levels of the North Korean leadership," Michael Madden, an expert on the country's leadership and contributor to the 38 North think tank told Reuters.

He added: "There is no clear or present danger to Kim Jong Un's leadership or regime stability, but if this continues to happen into next year, then we should seriously start to think about revising our scenarios on North Korea".