North Korea reportedly publicly executed two high-ranking officials with an anti-aircraft gun this month, including one who dared to challenge Kim Jong Un’s leadership, a South Korean newspaper reported Tuesday. The JoongAng Ilbo daily cited an unidentified source as saying Hwang Min, a former agriculture minister, and Ri Yong Jin, a senior official at the education ministry. Ri was said to have been killed for falling asleep during a meeting with the North Korean leader. If confirmed, the executions would be the latest in a string of purges of top officials. The report comes after North Korea’s deputy ambassador in London defected to South Korea, a move that drew scorn from authorities in Pyongyang. Kim reportedly reacted to the defection by ordering that any officials who allowed it to happen be executed.
Read it at JoongAng Ilbo
