N Korea executes defence chief with anti-aircraft gun for ‘falling asleep’

North Korea has executed its defence chief on treason charges by putting him in front of an anti-aircraft gun at a firing range, Seoul’s National Intelligence Service has said. Hyon Yong Chol, 66, who headed the isolated country’s military, was purged last month for disobeying Kim Jong Un and falling asleep during a meeting at which North Korea’s young leader was present, according to South Korean lawmakers briefed in a closed-door meeting with the spy agency on Wednesday. His execution, the latest of a series of high-level purges since Kim took power in 2011, was watched by hundreds of people, they said.

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 North Korean leadership and contributor to the 38 North think tank

Hyon (pictured), last known to have spoken publicly at a security conference in Moscow in April, was said to have shown disrespect to Kim by dozing off at a military event, the Seoul lawmakers said, citing the agency briefing. Hyon was believed to have voiced complaints against Kim Jong Un and had not followed his orders several times, according to the lawmakers. He was arrested late last month and executed three days later without legal proceedings, the NIS said. The reported execution comes after South Korea’s spy agency said last month that Kim ordered the execution of 15 senior officials this year as punishment for challenging his authority.

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