North Korea executed the Chief of Staff, Ri Yong Gil, reported Wednesday the South Korean news agency Yonhap, information which if confirmed would be the last case of a series of purges, disappearances and death sentences under the regime of the young leader Kim Jong-Un.
Reuters
The news was revealed amid strong tensions over North Korea after Sunday launched the space a long-range rocket, a fact that occurred about a month after the country was harshly criticized by the international community to conduct its fourth nuclear test.
A source close to the North Korean issues source also told Reuters that Ri had been executed. The source declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Ri, who was the supreme commander of the Korean People's Army (KPA, for its acronym in English), was executed this month on charges of corruption and conspiracy, reported South Korean Yonhap and other media.
Yonhap did not identify its sources. The person who told Reuters declined to comment on how he learned of the execution.
North Korea rarely issued public announcements relating to purges and executions of its officers or senior officials.
Unusually, the Communist government in 2013 confirmed the execution on charges of corruption Jang Sung-taek, the uncle of Kim Jong-Un and the man who was once considered the second most powerful figure in North Korea.
The North Korean military has been constantly renovated since Kim Jong-Un took power after the death of his father in 2011. The leader changed the army chief several times since then.